Where Mechanism Ends: Thomas Reid on the Moral and the Animal Oeconomy
Theories of life have consequences for how the social order is conceptualized. I pursue this theme in the work of the Aberdeen philosopher of mind Thomas Reid (1710–96), or more accurately, in his reactions to others’ views. Reid typically developed his own ideas into a coherent view in juxtaposition to ideas to which he took exception. This means entering into a number of apparently discrete contexts before the unifying threads can be made plain. Let me introduce my theme with a not untypical example of Reid’s way of clarifying by accentuating difference. In 1794, just two years before he died, Reid gave two lectures to the Glasgow Literary Society. The subjects were apparently unconnected. In the first lecture Reid extensively criticized and commented on Joseph Priestley’s materialist philosophy. The central point of dispute was the inertness of matter and its consequences for physiology and religion: “By what force [the muscular fibers] are contracted and relaxed, either in voluntary or involuntary Motion, Philosophy has never discovered. . . . It is here that Mechanism ends, at least human wisdom has never been able to carry it farther; and some cause must operate that has the power of beginning motion” (Wood 1995, 202).
An Inquiry Into the Original of Our Ideas of Beauty and Virtue; In Two Treatises
Francis Hutcheson's first book, An Inquiry into the Original of Our Ideas of Beauty and Virtue, was published in 1725, when its author was only thirty-one, and went through four editions during his lifetime. This seminal text of the Scottish Enlightenment is now available for the first time in a variorum edition based on the 1726 edition. The Inquiry was written as a critical response to the work of Bernard Mandeville and as a defense of the ideas of Anthony Ashley Cooper, Lord Shaftesbury. It consists of two treatises exploring our aesthetic and our moral abilities. Francis Hutcheson was a crucial link between the continental European natural law tradition and the emerging Scottish Enlightenment. Hence, he is a pivotal figure in the Natural Law and Enlightenment Classics series. A contemporary of Lord Kames and George Turnbull, an acquaintance of David Hume, and the teacher of Adam Smith, Hutcheson was arguably the leading figure in making Scotland distinctive within the general European Enlightenment.
The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, the European Language Portfolio, and language learning in higher education
Abstract This article explains the relevance of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and the European Language Portfolio (ELP) to language learning in higher education, especially as regards the definition of aims and learning outcomes and the promotion of students' capacity to manage their own learning. After providing some historical background, the article expounds the CEFR's action-oriented approach, explores it conceptualisation of progression in language learning and its implications for language teaching, and suggests how it can be applied to the design, implementation and assessment of language learning programmes in higher education. It then introduces the ELP, explains how it can be used in conjunction with the CEFR to support coherent programme delivery while promoting reflective learning and student autonomy, and concludes by considering the role of self-assessment in the university's assessment framework. The article ends with a cautionary tale.