George Turnbull (theologian)

George Turnbull (11 July 1698 – 31 Jan 1748) was a Scottish philosopher, theologian, teacher, writer on education and an early but little-known figure in the Scottish Enlightenment. He taught at Marischal College, Aberdeen, worked as a tutor and became an Anglican clergyman. Aside from his published writings on moral philosophy, he is also known for the influence he exerted on Thomas Reid and as the first member of the Scottish Enlightenment to publish a formal treatise on the theory and practice of education.

George Turnbull was born on 11 July 1698 in Alloa, Clackmannanshire. He was the son of George Turnbull, a minister, and his wife Elizabeth, and the third of their nine children. Turnbull began his studies at the University of Edinburgh in 1711 and started studying for a degree in divinity in 1717, graduating MA in 1721. During his years of study in Edinburgh, he became involved with the Rankenian Club, a circle of intellectuals, which included those who would become his closest associates: George Young, the surgeon and William Wishart, a preacher. At this time, Turnbull was interested in creating a rational form of Christianity, which led to his correspondence with John Toland, and the writing of an essay in defence of religious toleration which was never published.

Turnbull was made regent at Marischal College, Aberdeen, on 14 April 1721. His two graduation theses were De scientiae naturalis cum philosophia morali conjunctione from 1723 and De pulcherrima mundi cum materialis tum rationalis constitutione from 1726. These two works indicate that he was the first Scottish thinker to publish writings that argued for the use of the so-called Newtonian method in constructing a moral philosophy. Turnbull also drew heavily on the ideas of Lord Shaftesbury. Although this might be taken to indicate a preoccupation with the scholarship of his time, Turnbull showed great fondness for the classical moralists of antiquity.

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