John Abercrombie (10 October 1780 – 14 November 1844) was a Scottish physician, author, philosopher and philanthropist.

The Chambers Biographical Dictionary says of him that after James Gregory's death, he was "recognized as the first consulting physician in Scotland".

From 1816 he published various papers in the Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, which formed the basis of his more extensive works: Pathological and Practical Researches on Diseases of the Brain and Spinal Cord,[8] regarded as the first textbook in neuropathology, and Researches on the Diseases of the Intestinal Canal, Liver and other Viscera of the Abdomen, both published in 1828.

Abercrombie's gave the first ever description of the clinical features of perforated duodenal ulcer confirmed by the post-mortem.

The specimen showing the perforated ulcer was placed in Surgeons’ Hall Museum where it is on display to this day In 1821 he was unsuccessful in his application for the Chair of the Practice of Physic at the University of Edinburgh.

[9] In later years he wrote a series of philosophical speculations, and in 1830 he published his Inquiries concerning the Intellectual Powers and the Investigation of Truth,[10][11] which was followed in 1833 by a sequel, The Philosophy of the Moral Feelings.

The Inquiries (1830) has been widely cited in treatises on the law of evidence, due to its discussion of probability, (the sources of) certainty, and (doubts regarding) testimony.

He died suddenly while entering his carriage[17] at the front of his home, 19 York Place, Edinburgh, 14 November 1844.

[7] He is buried against the east wall of St Cuthberts Churchyard adjacent to the gateway into Princes Street Gardens.

Upon his death, his daughters donated his Abercrombie's library of circa 1000 volumes to the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.