ABSTRACT
This chapter opens with an introductory sketch of Scottish-Dutch relationships and the influence of the Scottish Enlightenment in the Netherlands more general. It presents an overview of Dutch translations of Scottish theological, philosophical, and historical works, and seeks to explain the popularity of Scottish moral philosophy. In view of the wave of plans to reform and reregulate the Dutch economy, it would seem that Smith’s defence of the system of natural liberty fell on deaf ears. The Dutch enthusiasm for Scottish as compared to Enlightened French writers can be explained by the moderate character of the Scottish Enlightenment more generally. As the commotion caused by the election of the unitarian theologian Priestley in Haarlem evinced, Dutch societies feared to be associated with materialism and deism. To foreigners, a membership of the Dutch Society did not come with any obligations. Formally they were not expected to pay contribution nor to submit essays of any kind.
