Thomas E. Finser
FINDING LIGHT IN EDINBURGH:
THE RISE OF PERMANENT CAPITAL AND THE LEGACY OF 18th Century Scottish ENLIGHTENMENT
BY THOMAS E. FINSER
AUGUST 12, 2023
AUGUST 12, 2023
Two of the fundamental precepts of the 18th century Scottish Enlightenment were moral imagination and epistemological humility. These precepts are evident in the formation of The Scottish Ministers’ Widows Fund of 1744. This fund marked the creation of the world’s first actuarial-based permanent capital investment vehicle. The fund was a collective effort of two Moderate Presbyterian ministers, Alexander Webster, and Robert Wallace, with the assistance of mathematical genius, Colin Maclaurin. The Fund was pioneered for a noble cause: the alleviation of poverty for widows and orphans of deceased Presbyterian ministers. The Widows’ Fund was a noteworthy success. Persisting for 250 years, it inspired the first science-based life insurance organizations in Philadelphia and England.
It is my hypothesis that the 18th century Enlightenment value of epistemological humility was rekindled in the aftermath of the 2008 Global Financial Crises. I contend that the pattern of humility and moral imagination, active in the 1744 Widows’ Fund, was reawakened and is present in the current financial culture of Edinburgh. I propose that this pattern was manifest in the groundbreaking establishment of the Library of Mistakes in 2014. Located today at 33A Melville Street Lane in Edinburgh, this financial research and educational institution was founded in dedication to the spirit of humility in learning from mistakes.
It is my hypothesis that the 18th century Enlightenment value of epistemological humility was rekindled in the aftermath of the 2008 Global Financial Crises. I contend that the pattern of humility and moral imagination, active in the 1744 Widows’ Fund, was reawakened and is present in the current financial culture of Edinburgh. I propose that this pattern was manifest in the groundbreaking establishment of the Library of Mistakes in 2014. Located today at 33A Melville Street Lane in Edinburgh, this financial research and educational institution was founded in dedication to the spirit of humility in learning from mistakes.