Statue of David Hume

Rub foot for good luck…
Sitting, thinking and waiting…
Always pipes close by…

These 5 stars go to the man, not really the statue. But since the man is, well, y’know, dead, the statue’ll have to do.
I do beg to differ on the ‘most photographed statue’ in Edinburgh comment, since I’m pretty sure that goes to the annoying little dog statue (i.e. Greyfriar’s Bobby), but I’d say David Hume gets second pick.
The David Hume statue is also, I believe, the most abused statue in Edinburgh. Which is, in one way, fair enough. But I don’t think people are putting traffic cones on his head because he was racist, or because they disagree with his theory of causality. Maybe he’s just a lot more accessible than the other statues.
This area, in any case, is where all the tourists congregate and have fun snapping away with their cameras, and the David Hume statue is very often the subject of their makeshift portraits.

Edinburgh should be proud of its history of producing great philosophers. During the enlightenment it helped produce two of the most influential philosophers of all time, Adam Smith, and of course, David Hume.
If you study philosophy, or indeed any of the humanities, you will surely know the name and works of David Hume. He is one of the most studied philosophers of all time for a reason! Love him or hate him, he affected every field from moral philosophy to epistemology to economics. So it is strange that Edinburgh had no statue or memorial to the great man until 1997.
This bronze statue sits outside the High Court building, at the top of the Royal Mile. It must be one of the most photographed statues in Edinburgh! It was created by one of Scotland’s foremost sculptors, Alexander «Sandy» Stoddart. Here Stoddart depicts Hume as a wise thinker, in classical clothes akin to the great Greek philosophers. It sits just up from St Giles Cathedral, in so an obvious spot you can’t really miss it.
If you’re interested in Hume, Scottish history or sculpture, this is definitely one easy hot spot to stop by on your way down the Royal Mile. It is also only moments away from the equally interesting Adam Smith statue, another recent Stoddart addition to Edinburgh’s statues.