Thomas Reid and The Problem of Architecture

The eighteenth-century Scottish philosopher Thomas Reid (1710–1796) widely as one of as David Hume’s most perceptive contemporary critics, wrote nothing about architecture. In his Essays on the Intellectual Powers published in 1783, however, the essay on “Taste” contains thoughts that are relevant to the aesthetics of architecture. The purpose of this paper is to show that on a central question in the philosophy of architecture, namely “What transforms the activity of building into the art of architecture?,” Reid’s essay can be used to throw more light than the familiar approaches to aesthetics that take their cue from Hume and Kant. The key lies in Reid’s exploration of the relationship between beauty, grandeur and excellence.