A new look at Kames

‘HE MADE THE LAW A LIVING BODY OF MANKIND’: A NEW LOOK AT THE INFLUENCE OF LORD KAMES

An appreciation by Phillip Taylor MBE and Elizabeth Taylor of Richmond Green Chambers

This book by Andreas Rahmatian of the University of Glasgow should be read by all lawyers with a jurisprudential bent -- and indeed by any reader interested in the eighteenth century Enlightenment, the Scottish Enlightenment in particular (which lasted from about 1740 to 1790).

In this case, the works of one of its most influential thinkers, Lord Kames are examined, discussed and analysed against the backdrop of a golden age of intellectual exploration and enquiry.

The Scottish jurist and philosopher Henry Home (pronounced ‘Hume’) took the title Lord Kames when he was elevated to the bench of the Scottish Court of Session in 1752. ‘Influential’ is probably an understatement when describing this distinguished legal and social theorist, jurist, moral philosopher, reformer