Stewart succeded Adam Ferguson as professor of moral philosophy in Edinburgh in 1785, having previously held a professorship of mathematics. He continued the tradition of Reid and Adam Smith but was more important as an immensely influential teacher, not only in Scotland but in France and America. Works included Elements of the Philosophy of the Human Mind (three volumes, 1792, 1814, and 1827) and Philosophy of the Active and Moral Powers of Man (1828).