Biography
Dunbar was a Scottish writer and Professor of Moral Philosophy.
He was educated at King's College, of which he was elected a regent in 1766. He taught moral philosophy as a Professor there for the next 30 years. In 1783 he became a founding member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
James Dunbar published two works: De Primordiis Civitatum Oratio in qua agitur de Bello Civili inter Magnam Britanniam et Colonias nunc flagrante (1779), and Essays on the History of Mankind in rude and uncultivated ages (1780).
Life with Boswell
On August 23, 1773, Dunbar dined with Boswell and Johnson at Sir Alexander Gordon's in Aberdeen. Also present were Provost Jopp and Professors Ross and Gordon.