Though little known today, David Fordyce was animportant figure in the Scottish Enlightenment andclosely associated with liberal Dissenters in England. His Elements of Moral Philosophy was a notablecontribution to the curriculum in moral philosophyand a widely circulated text in moral philosophy in thesecond half of the eighteenth century.It was first published as part of a comprehensivetextbook system in 1748 and as a separate book in1754. It is the latter that is now being reissued.The significance of The Elements is evidenced bythe fact that it was included practically verbatim in thefirst edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica (1771). A Brief Account, Fordyces opening lectures to hisMarischal class of 1743/44, has never before beenpublished.David Fordyce (17111751)taught at Marischal College, Aberdeen.Thomas D.

Kennedy is AssociateProfessor of Philosophy at ValparaisoUniversity.Knud Haakonssen is Professor of Intellectual History and Director of the Centre for Intellectual History at the University of Sussex, England.