The Edinburgh physician and Professor of Moral Philosophy, Dr Thomas Brown (1778-1820), is little known today, and his grave lies in disrepair. In his time, however, he was one of the most popular and celebrated British philosophers. In this talk, Professor Thomas Dixon, explains why he considers Brown to have been the “inventor of the emotions”, through the influence of his Lectures on the Philosophy of the Human Mind. He also discusses how ideas about emotions have changed in the two centuries since Brown’s death, and especially considers the blurring between everyday emotions and mental disorders that can occur today. What would Dr Thomas Brown have said about today’s crisis in mental health?

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