This chapter investigates the concept and theological use of philosophy in Scotland after John Mair. Until the 1570s, philosophy in Scotland was in the tradition of scholasticism. After the Reformation, Melville’s university reform changed the philosophical landscape. Across Europe, the first generation of the reformers had taught that scholasticism and Aristotle were not necessary for the Christian faith, and philosophers and theologians alike had to rethink the traditional scholasticism of Catholic legacy. This intellectual change is traced here with a focus on the role, scope and autonomy of philosophy with respect to theology. After the dismissal of Aristotelo-scholasticism, both scholasticism and Aristotelianism survived in the universities in new forms adapted to Reformation theology. Aristotle in particular, regarded as the personification of unassisted natural reason, retained his importance. The status of Aristotle is a good indicator of the prevailing concept of philosophy.
The chapter is divided into four sections. Section one covers the progression from John Mair to Andrew Melville. Section two discusses the differences between scholasticism and humanist Aristotelianism. Finally, sections three and four analyse some late sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century texts by Andrew Melville, Robert Rollock and five university philosophers: William Robertson, William Craig, John Adamson, John Petrie, and John Knox.