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Anthony Kenny, the renowned historian of philosophy, passed away at the age of 95. His academic career spanned over fifty years at Oxford University, where he was both a distinguished lecturer and an accomplished administrator. Among his most notable contributions is the four-volume work *A New History of Western Philosophy* (2004-07), which was crafted to capture the engaging style and clarity of Bertrand Russell’s *History of Western Philosophy*, while avoiding its factual errors. Many critics believe Kenny succeeded admirably in this endeavor.
Kenny’s arrival at Oxford in 1957 coincided with the university’s prominence in analytic philosophy, a discipline dedicated to achieving clarity by analyzing ordinary language. At the time, he was also a Catholic priest completing a doctorate at the Gregorian University in Rome and affiliated with St Benet’s Hall, a Catholic institution. Influenced profoundly by Elizabeth Anscombe, a fellow Catholic and professor, Kenny developed a deep interest in Ludwig Wittgenstein’s later philosophy. This philosophical immersion contributed to a growing religious skepticism, culminating in his departure from the priesthood in 1963—the same year his dissertation, *Action, Emotion and Will*, was published.
Despite initial ambitions to produce original work in the philosophy of mind and action, Kenny’s lasting legacy largely lies in his skillful and accessible expositions of past philosophers such as Aristotle, Aquinas, Descartes, Frege, and Wittgenstein. He authored some fifty books encompassing a wide array of topics, including poetry by Gerard Manley Hopkins and Arthur Hugh Clough, figures wrestling with faith; Thomas More, one of his personal heroes; issues like nuclear armament; and even mountain climbing. His scholarship included a translation of Aristotle’s *Eudemian Ethics* and a stylometric analysis supporting the argument that this work represents Aristotle’s most mature ethical thought.
Kenny was a prominent figure within Oxford’s academic community, serving as Master of Balliol College from 1978 to 1989. During his tenure, he navigated significant institutional challenges, balancing student radicalism with established traditions and resisting political and financial pressures from the Conservative government led by Margaret Thatcher. Under his leadership, Balliol became coeducational. He also held the role of pro-vice-chancellor from 1984 until his retirement from teaching in 2001. Knighted in 1992 and elected a fellow of the British Academy in 1974, he additionally served as Warden of Rhodes House from 1989 to 1999, where he introduced reforms supporting educational initiatives in post-apartheid South Africa. His humor was evident in his quip about the mining magnate Cecil Rhodes: “Cecil Rhodes must be turning in his grave. Oh for a Rhodocycle to chart his spins!”
Born in Liverpool to Margaret (née Jones) and John Kenny, an Irish steamship engineer who left the family when Anthony was two, Kenny’s early education was under the care of nuns until age twelve. Inspired by his uncle, a priest, he entered a junior seminary and later studied at the Gregorian University, where he encountered neo-scholasticism and the medieval philosophies of Aristotle and Aquinas. However, Kenny increasingly doubted traditional Catholic doctrines, criticizing Aquinas’s five proofs of God’s existence for relying on outdated medieval science and highlighting unresolved tensions in reconciling divine attributes such as omnipotence and goodness. He also found the doctrine of transubstantiation problematic, famously concluding, “for all I could tell my typewriter might be Benjamin Disraeli,” expressing skepticism about the idea that an object could change its substance without any perceptible alteration.
Kenny’s evolving views and activism—exemplified by a 1963 article urging Catholics to oppose nuclear weapons—led to tensions within the Church and eventually his laicisation. He described himself as a “devout agnostic” and maintained opposition to abortion consistent with his ethical stance on war and civilian life. In 1966, Kenny married Nancy Gayley, an American singer and music teacher, without Church dispensation, despite opposition from friends like Elizabeth Anscombe. Later in life, Kenny reflected on having found happiness following a difficult youth. He and Nancy enjoyed mountain climbing and hiking with their sons, Robert and Charles, and collaborated closely on his work, with Nancy helping to ensure his philosophical writings remained accessible to general audiences. He leaves behind his wife and two sons
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