David Hume was also discriminated against

Prof Joseph Farrell (Letters, October 20) is to be commended for trying to encourage Edinburgh University to adopt a rational approach to there naming of the David Hume Tower–known to generations of students as the DHT.

Two observations could be added to the call for rational thinking. Firstly, Hume himself was the objects of prejudicial discrimination on behalf of the University itself. He was refused a professorship in Philosophy on the grounds that he did not profess the Christian faith. The basis of this refusal was the accusation of being an atheist. It is an accusation which does not square with his scepticism about the certainty of our knowledge of the world we live in – knowledge which, ironically, is a necessary condition for one to have faith.

If we accept the principle that an institution should be renamed on the basis of any unacceptable value statements of individuals, then all those bearing the name of Einstein should be renamed. His letter of July 1914 to his first wife, Mil eva Maric, would today be condemned as misogynist.

It is a mark of Hume’s standing in Philosophy that his work is, like that of Einstein, taught throughout the world. He studied at Edinburgh University without graduating and was refused a post on dubious moral grounds. These would seem to be sufficient grounds for retaining the name of the DHT.

(DR) FRANCIS ROBERTS Duddingston Square West

Edinburgh