Sir William Drummond of Logiealmond (ca. 1770-1828) was a Scottish diplomat and Member of Parliament, poet and philosopher. His book Academical Questions (1805) is arguably important in the development of the ideas of English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.
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In 1795 he was MP for St. Mawes, and in the elections of 1796 and 1801 was returned for Lostwithiel.[1] These were both rotten boroughs in Cornwall. He became a Privy Counsellor in 1801[2], and left Parliament as a diplomat, becoming British Ambassador to Naples and the Ottoman Empire[3].
The title of Drummond's book refers to the later Platonic Academy, which was, in fact, not so much Platonist as Sceptical in orientation, based on the work of Pyrrho the Sceptic and later followers of Pyrrho such as Carneades. Academical Questions is a work in the Sceptic tradition, in this case influenced by the Sceptical Scottish philosopher David Hume.
According to C. E. Pulos's 1954 book The Deep Truth: A Study of Shelley's Scepticism, Drummond uses Sceptical Humean ideas in an attempt to refute the British philosophy predominant in his day, the Common Sense ideas of Thomas Reid and his followers. These had been enunciated first in Reid's An Enquiry Into the Human Mind (1765).
Drummond failed to unseat Reid's ideas in popularity; they remained dominant in English philosophy for the first half of the 19th century.
In contrast to other scholars he names, Pulos argues that Shelley was decisively influenced by Academical Questions, and under its influence confidently abandoned 18th century French materialism. According to Pulos, Drummond altered the poet Shelley's beliefs. He ceased being an 18th century French materialist; Shelley asserted that some passions (of the heart) are "innate."
His Oedipus Judaicus references the Oedipus Aegyptiacus of Athanasius Kircher, and was printed for private circulation. It was reprinted in 1866, having proved highly controversial (introduction to 1986 reprint by James P. Carley). It interprets passages from the Book of Genesis (in particular the Chedorlaomer story), and the Book of Joshua, in allegorical fashion, with a detailed argument based on astrology.
| Parliament of Great Britain | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Thomas Calvert Sir William Young |
Member of Parliament for St Mawes 1795 – 1796 With: Sir William Young |
Succeeded by George Nugent Sir William Young |
| Preceded by George Smith Reginald Pole-Carew |
Member of Parliament for Lostwithiel 1796 – 1802 With: Hans Sloane |
Succeeded by Parliament of the United Kingdom |
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by Parliament of Great Britain |
Member of Parliament for Lostwithiel 1801 – 1802 With: Hans Sloane |
Succeeded by Hans Sloane William Dickinson |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by Sir Arthur Paget |
Ambassador to the Kingdom of Naples 1801-1803 |
Succeeded by Hugh Elliot |
| Preceded by Earl of Elgin |
Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire 1803-1804 |
Succeeded by Charles Arbuthnot |
| Preceded by Gen. Henry Edward Fox |
Ambassador to the Kingdom of Naples 1806-1809 |
Succeeded by Lord Amherst |