How should philosophy of education in Scotland address the postcolonial moment? Among the recent calls made across the academy is for all disciplines to be decolonised: to consider ways in which they have been historically implicated in colonialism, as well as possible reparatory obligations. Such calls are likely to claim that philosophy as a colonised discipline is heavily dominated by Western philosophers, whether in the Anglo-American or Continental traditions – and hence in need of decolonisation. Such claims could well be made by alluding to Scotland’s role in the history of the British Empire, to its continuing material gains from that history and so to an as yet incomplete reckoning with complicity in colonialism. Under particular scrutiny in the decolonial literature is the Enlightenment tradition, which among its alleged flaws is seen to suffer from a tendency to universalism and hence a failure to recognise and respect particularity, especially the experiences and traditions of societies colonised by European powers. Decolonial challenges pose important critical questions for philosophy in Scotland, and for philosophers of education who value the tradition of the Scottish Enlightenment. In a preliminary response to this set of criticisms I will explore the distinction between hegemonic, abusive universalism on the one hand and pluralist, critical universalism on the other, defending the latter as offering a necessary contribution to a postcolonial ethics in philosophy of education. My primary example will be the Scottish Enlightenment philosopher, Adam Smith, drawing on recent reassessments of his work.

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