David Hume and Benjamin Franklin 

21 South Saint David Street, Edinburgh EH2 1AW

A plaque marks where David Hume, one of Scotland’s greatest philosophers, lived from 1771 until his death in 1776.

It was also here, in 1771, that Benjamin Franklin lodged with Hume on his second Edinburgh visit. The two men were among the most brilliant of their age, and their friendship was a great intellectual bond of the Enlightenment. Franklin had first met Hume in 1759 and called Edinburgh’s philosophers “truly great men.” Hume, for his part, regarded Franklin as a great intellect and Franklin and Hume corresponded until Hume’s death in 1776.

Sources:

• Atiyah (2006) Benjamin Franklin and the Edinburgh Enlightenment. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 150, No. 4 (Dec., 2006), pp. 591-606.

Additional Links:

• Hume’s Life in Edinburgh
• Franklin and Hume’s Friendship