George Campbell

George Campbell (December 25, 1719 – April 6, 1796) was a Scottish Enlightenment philosopher, minister, theologian, and professor of divinity. Campbell had three focuses to his intellectual life: language, theology, and rhetoric. He was primarily interested in rhetoric since he believed that the study of rhetoric would enable his students to become better preachers. Consequently, he became a philosopher of rhetoric because he understood that the philosophical changes brought by the Enlightenment would have serious implications for rhetoric. Campbell was born December 25, 1719, in Aberdeen (it is unlikely that there was much significance given to his birth date, since Scottish Calvinists, such as Campbell's father, Rev. Colin Campbell,...