ABSTRACT
Political economy has always been at the centre of the Scottish Enlightenment. Robertson has contended that ‘the most important of all the intellectual preoccupations of the Scottish Enlightenment was political economy’ (2000: 51). Writers such as David Hume, Adam Smith and, to a lesser extent, Sir James Steuart1 earn pride of place in the Pantheon of Scottish-born economists who contributed to the Scottish Enlightenment. On the other hand John Law has been conspicuously deleted from most discussions of the Scottish Enlightenment. By birth and education Law had strong Scottish credentials. He was born in Edinburgh in 1671, the son of a prominent Edinburgh goldsmith, William Law (d. 1683), who, shortly before he died, had purchased the estates of Lauriston and Randleston, located in the parish of Cramond, which was a few miles outside Edinburgh at the time. Law was educated in Scotland and in 1704/05 attempted to convince the Scottish Parliament of the benefits of his proposed bank. John Law’s absence from the list of Scottish intellectuals associated with the Enlightenment raises issues as to why such an important figure has been excluded. At a deeper level his exclusion raises the important question as to just what is meant by the Enlightenment.
