George Campbell (Presbyterian minister)

George Campbell
Born	25 December 1719 (Aberdeen, Scotland)
Died	6 April 1796 (Aberdeen, Scotland)
Era	Enlightenment
Region	Scotland
School	Empiricism/Enlightenment
Main interests	Rhetoric, Theology, Language, Common Sense, Human nature, Faculty psychology, Religion, Christian apologetics
Influences John Locke, Thomas Reid, Francis Bacon, Quintilian, David Hume, Augustine of Hippo
Influenced The Philosophy of Rhetoric, is considered by many, the most important work in rhetorical theory of the Enlightenment.

Rev George Campbell DD FRSE (25 December 1719 – 6 April 1796) was a figure of the Scottish Enlightenment, known as a philosopher, minister, and professor of divinity. Campbell was primarily interested in rhetoric, since he believed that its study would enable his students to become better preachers. He became a philosopher of rhetoric because he took it that the philosophical changes of the Age of Enlightenment would have implications for rhetoric.

Campbell was born on 25 December 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, despised both popish rituals and holidays). At the age of fifteen, Campbell attended Marischal College where he studied logic, metaphysics, pneumatology (philosophy of mind and/or spirit), ethics, and natural philosophy. After graduating with his M.A. in 1738, Campbell decided to study law and served as an apprentice to a writer to the Signet in Edinburgh. He began gravitating towards theology after attending lectures at the University of Edinburgh. After serving out his term as an apprentice, he returned to Aberdeen and enrolled at both King's and Marischal Colleges, University of Aberdeen as a student of divinity. Because of the tumultuous political landscape in Scotland (see Jacobite rising), Campbell's divinity examinations were delayed until 1746 when he received his licence to preach. Within two years, he received ordination at the parish of Banchory Ternan.