Anthony Kenny - Wikipedia Anthony Kenny From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search Sir Anthony Kenny Born Anthony John Patrick Kenny (1931-03-16) 16 March 1931 (age 89) Liverpool, Lancashire, England Alma mater St Benet's Hall, Oxford Era Contemporary philosophy Region Western philosophy School Analytical Thomism Institutions University of Oxford Main interests Philosophy of religion, philosophy of mind, history of philosophy Notable ideas Criticism of Cartesian dualism[1] Influences Ludwig Wittgenstein, Herbert McCabe, Peter Geach, Thomas Aquinas Sir Anthony John Patrick Kenny FBA (born 16 March 1931) is an English philosopher whose interests lie in the philosophy of mind, ancient and scholastic philosophy, the philosophy of Wittgenstein and the philosophy of religion. With Peter Geach, he has made a significant contribution to analytical Thomism, a movement whose aim is to present the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas in the style of analytic philosophy. He is one of the executors of Wittgenstein's literary estate. He is a former President of the British Academy and the Royal Institute of Philosophy. Contents 1 Education and early career 2 Academic career 3 Philosophical work 4 Honours and awards 5 Bibliography 6 Notes and references 7 Sources 8 External links Education and early career[edit] Kenny initially trained as a Roman Catholic priest at the Venerable English College, Rome, where he received a degree of Licentiate of Sacred Theology (STL) degree. He was ordained in 1955 and served as a curate in Liverpool (1959–63). Having received his DPhil from the University of Oxford (St Benet's Hall) in 1961, he also worked as an assistant lecturer at the University of Liverpool (1961–63). However, he questioned the validity of Roman Catholic doctrine and has been an agnostic since the later 1960s.[2][3] He was returned to the lay state in 1963, but according to canon law his priestly ordination remains valid. He was never dispensed from the obligation of clerical celibacy and was therefore excommunicated on his marriage to Nancy Gayley in 1965.[4] Academic career[edit] During 1963–64, Kenny was lecturer in Philosophy at Exeter and Trinity Colleges, Oxford, and he served as University Lecturer 1965–78. From 1964 until 1978, he was a Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford and Senior Tutor during the periods 1971–72 and 1976–78. He was Master of Balliol from 1978 to 1989 and subsequently an Honorary Fellow. During the period 1989–99, he was both Warden of Rhodes House (manager of the Rhodes Scholarship program) and Professorial Fellow of St John's College and thereafter Fellow Emeritus. He was Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford from 1984 to 2001 (Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Development, 1999–2001). He retired in 2001. Within the university, Kenny was Wilde Lecturer in Natural and Comparative Religion (1969–72), Speaker's Lecturer in Biblical Studies (1980–83), a member of the Hebdomadal Council (1981–93), Vice-Chairman of the Libraries Board (1985–88), Curator of the Bodleian Library (1985–88) and a Delegate, and member of the Finance Committee, of Oxford University Press (1986–93). From 1972 until 1973 he was the editor of The Oxford Magazine. He received the degree of DLitt in 1980 and the honorary degree of DCL. in 1987. He was a member of the Board of the British Library 1991-96 and Chairman 1993–96, and has served as Chairman of the Society for Protection of Science and Learning (1989–93), of the British National Corpus Advisory Board (1990–95), of the British Irish Association (1990–94), and of the Board of the Warburg Institute (1996–2000). He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1974 and served as a member of the Council of the Academy 1985–88, as Vice President 1986–88 and President 1989–93. Kenny was Gifford Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh 1972–73 and at the University of Glasgow in 1988, Stanton Lecturer at the University of Cambridge 1980–83, and Bampton Lecturer at Columbia University in 1983. He was a Visiting Professor at Chicago, Washington, Michigan, Minnesota, Cornell, Stanford and Rockefeller Universities. He has been a member of the American Philosophical Society since 1993, and of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters since 1993, and an Honorary Fellow of Harris Manchester College, Oxford since 1996, and of the School of Advanced Study, University of London since 2002 (Senior Distinguished Fellow 2002-3). He has received the honorary degrees of D.Litt. from Bristol (1982), Liverpool (1988), Glasgow (1990), Trinity College, Dublin (1992), Hull (1993), Sheffield (1995), and Warwick (1995), of D.Hum.Litt. from Denison University, Ohio (1986) and Lafayette College, Pennsylvania (1990) and of D.C.L. from the Queen's University of Belfast (1994). Philosophical work[edit] Although deeply interested in traditional Catholic teaching and continuing to attend the Catholic Mass,[5] Kenny now explicitly defines himself as an agnostic, explaining in his What I Believe both why he is not a theist and why he is not an atheist. His 2006 book What I Believe has (as Ch 3) "Why I am Not an Atheist", which begins: "Many different definitions may be offered of the word 'God'. Given this fact, atheism makes a much stronger claim than theism does. The atheist says that no matter what definition you choose, 'God exists' is always false. The theist only claims that there is some definition which will make 'God exists' true. In my view, neither the stronger nor the weaker claim has been convincingly established". He goes on: "the true default position is neither theism nor atheism, but agnosticism ... a claim to knowledge needs to be substantiated; ignorance need only be confessed."[6] He defends the rationality of an agnostic praying to a God whose existence he doubts, stating "It surely is no more unreasonable than the act of a man adrift in the ocean, trapped in a cave, or stranded on a mountainside, who cries for help though he may never be heard or fires a signal which may never be seen."[7] Kenny has written extensively on Thomas Aquinas and modern Thomism. In The Five Ways, he deals with St. Thomas' five proofs of God. In it, he argues that none of the proofs Thomas sets out is wholly valid, and instead sets out to show the flaws in the five ways. His arguments range from the problem of Aristotelian motion in a modern scientific context, to the ability of contingent beings to cause eternality in other contingent beings. His objections all focus on a modern interpretation of St. Thomas. Kenny candidly describes the predicament of the beginning of the universe, which both atheists and agnostics face, writing, "According to the Big Bang Theory, the whole matter of the universe began at a particular time in the remote past. A proponent of such a theory, at least if he is an atheist, must believe that the matter of the universe came from nothing and by nothing."[8] In What Is Faith?, Kenny addresses "the question of whether belief in God, and faith in a divine world, is a reasonable or rational state of mind."[9] He criticises the idea, "common to theists like Aquinas and Descartes and to an atheist like Russell," that "Rational belief [is] either self-evident or based directly or indirectly on what is evident", which he terms "foundationalism" following Plantinga,[10] arguing that foundationalism is a self-refuting idea. During the 2000s Kenny wrote a history of Western philosophy, released in four parts from 2004–07; the four books were released together as A New History of Western Philosophy in 2010.[11] In Brief Encounters Kenny says Derrida was "corrupted by being famous. He gave up philosophy for rhetoric, and rhetoric of a particularly childish kind".[12] Writing of Richard Dawkins, he suggests that "moving from The Extended Phenotype to The God Delusion is like moving from the Financial Times to The Sun." He commends Denis Noble's principle of 'Biological Relativity' which states (according to Kenny) that "in biology there is no privileged level of causation: living organisms and multilevel open systems in which the behaviour at any level depends on higher and lower levels". Honours and awards[edit] Kenny was made a Knight Bachelor by Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom in 1992 and has been an Honorary Bencher of Lincoln's Inn since 1999. In October 2006, Kenny was awarded the American Catholic Philosophical Association's Aquinas Medal for his significant contributions to philosophy. Portraits of Kenny hang in the British Academy, London, and at Balliol College and Rhodes House, Oxford.[13][14][15] Bibliography[edit] Kenny, A. (1963) Action, Emotion and Will. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-30374-5 Kenny, A. (1963) Responsa Alumnorum of English College, Rome, 2 vols, Catholic Record Society: Records series, vols. 54–55. Kenny, A. (1968) Descartes Kenny, A. (1969) The Five Ways: St. Thomas Aquinas' Proofs of God’s Existence. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-31845-9 Kenny, A., Longuet-Higgins, H. C., Lucas, J. R., Waddington, C. H. (1972), The Nature of Mind, Edinburgh University Press (Gifford Lectures, online) ISBN 0-85224-235-2 Kenny, A., Longuet-Higgins, H. C., Lucas, J. R., Waddington, C. H. (1973), The Development of Mind, Edinburgh University Press (Gifford Lectures, online) ISBN 0-85224-263-8 Kenny, A. (1973) Wittgenstein. Harmondsworth: The Penguin Press. ISBN 0-14-021581-6 Kenny, A. (1974) The Anatomy of the Soul Kenny, A. (1975) Will, Freedom and Power Kenny, A. (1978) The Aristotelian Ethics: A Study of the Relationship between the Eudemian and Nicomachean Ethics of Aristotle. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-824554-8 Kenny, A. (1978) Freewill and Responsibility. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-7100-8998-8 Kenny, A. (1979) The God of the Philosophers. Oxford: OUP. ISBN 0-19-824594-7 Kenny, A. (1980) Aquinas. New York: Hill and Wang. ISBN 0-8090-2724-0 Kenny, A. (1982) The Computation of Style: An Introduction to Statistics for Students of Literature and Humanities. Oxford & New York: Pergamon Press. ISBN 0-08-024282-0 Kenny, A. (1983) Thomas More Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-287574-4 Kenny, A. (1986) A Path from Rome: An Autobiography. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-283050-3 Kenny, A. (1986) A Stylometric Study of the New Testament. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-826178-0 Kenny, A. (1988) God and Two Poets: Arthur Hugh Clough and Gerard Manley Hopkins. London: Sidgwick & Jackson. ISBN 0-283-99387-1 Kenny, A. (1989) The Metaphysics of Mind Kenny, A. (1990) The Oxford Diaries of Arthur Hugh Clough Kenny, A. (comp) (1991) Mountains: An Anthology. London: John Murray. ISBN 978-0-7195-4639-6 Kenny, A. (1992) What Is Faith? Essays in the Philosophy of Religion. Oxford: OUP. ISBN 0-19-283067-8 Kenny, A. (1993) Aristotle on the Perfect Life. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-824017-1 Kenny, A. (1993) Aquinas on Mind. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-04415-4 Kenny, A. (ed) (1994) The Oxford History of Western Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-824278-6 Kenny, A. (1995) Frege: An Introduction to the Founder of Modern Analytic Philosophy. London: Penguin Philosophy. ISBN 0-14-012550-7 Kenny, A. (1997) A Brief History of Western Philosophy. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-20132-7 Kenny, A. (1997) A Life in Oxford. London: John Murray. ISBN 0-7195-5061-0 Kenny, A. (2001) Essays on the Aristotelian Tradition Kenny, A. (2002) Aquinas on Being. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-823847-9 Kenny, A. (2004) Ancient Philosophy: A New History of Western Philosophy, vol. 1. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-875273-3 Kenny, A. (2005) Arthur Hugh Clough: a poet’s life. London & New York: Continuum. ISBN 0-8264-7382-2 Kenny, A. (2005) Medieval Philosophy: A New History of Western Philosophy, vol. 2 OUP. ISBN 978-0-19-875275-2 Kenny, A. (2005) The Unknown God: Agnostic Essays Continuum. ISBN 978-0-8264-7634-0 Kenny, A. (2006) What I Believe. London & New York: Continuum. ISBN 0-8264-8971-0 Kenny, A. (2006) The Rise of Modern Philosophy: A New History of Western Philosophy, vol. 3 OUP. ISBN 978-0-19-875277-6 Kenny, A. & Kenny C. (2006) Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Utility. Imprint Academic. ISBN 978-1-84540-052-1 Kenny, A. (2007) Philosophy in the Modern World: A New History of Western Philosophy, vol. 4. OUP. ISBN 978-0-19-875279-0 Kenny, A. & Kenny R. (2007) Can Oxford be Improved? Imprint Academic. ISBN 978-1-84540-094-1 Kenny, A. (2010) A New History of Western Philosophy, Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-958988-3 Kenny, A. (2017) The Enlightenment: A Very Brief History, SPCK, London ISBN 978-0-28-1076437- Kenny, A. (2018) Brief Encounters: Notes from a Philosophers Diary, SPCK, London ISBN 978-0-281-07919-3 Kenny, A. (2019) Immanuel Kant: A Very Brief History, SPCK, London ISBN 978-0281076543 Notes and references[edit] ^ Kenny, A. (1997), A Brief History of Western Philosophy, Blackwell, pp. 207–8. ^ "Interview: Anthony Kenny, philosopher". www.churchtimes.co.uk. Retrieved 16 March 2019. I’m agnostic about the existence of God. I don’t find the arguments of atheists like Dawkins convincing, nor the arguments of Aquinas. The sensible thing to say is that I don’t know. ^ "A Chat with Anthony Kenny". spckpublishing.co.uk. Retrieved 16 March 2019. since the 1960s I have remained in the philosophical position I then adopted: agnostic about the existence of God, sceptical about the possibility of life after death ^ What I Believe, ch. 1. ^ William C. Dowling, "Meaningless grades and a new dishonesty", Springer New York, Volume 16, Number 4 / September, 2003 ^ What I Believe, ch. 3 ^ Kenny 1979, p. 129 ^ Anthony Kenny, The Five Ways: St. Thomas Aquinas' Proofs of God's Existence (New York: Schocken, 1969), p. 66 ^ What Is Faith?, p. 3 ^ What Is Faith?, pp. 9–10 ^ Kenny, Anthony. A New History of Western Philosophy, p xiv. ^ Kenny, Anthony (2018). Brief Encounters: Notes from a Philosopher's Diary. SPCK. ISBN 978-0281079193. ^ Art UK ^ bbc.co.uk ^ Art UK Sources[edit] School of Advanced Study, University of London About the satirical magazine Why? External links[edit] Wikiquote has quotations related to: Anthony Kenny Philosophy Bites Interviews with Anthony Kenny on his History of Philosophy and Aquinas' Ethics Interview: Anthony Kenny, philosopher short piece in The Church Times from December 2018. Academic offices Preceded by Christopher Hill Master of Balliol College, Oxford 1978–1989 Succeeded by Baruch Samuel Blumberg Preceded by Dr Robin Fletcher Warden of Rhodes House, Oxford 1989–1999 Succeeded by Dr John Rowett v t e Philosophy of religion Concepts in religion Afterlife Euthyphro dilemma Faith Intelligent design Miracle Problem of evil Religious belief Soul Spirit Theodicy Theological veto Conceptions of God Aristotelian view Brahman Demiurge Divine simplicity Egoism Holy Spirit Misotheism Pandeism Personal god Process theology Supreme Being Unmoved mover God in Abrahamic religions Buddhism Christianity Hinduism Islam Jainism Judaism Mormonism Sikhism Baháʼí Faith Wicca Existence of God For Beauty Christological Consciousness Cosmological Kalam Contingency Degree Desire Experience Fine-tuning of the universe Love Miracles Morality Necessary existent Ontological Pascal's wager Proper basis Reason Teleological Natural law Watchmaker analogy Transcendental Against 747 gambit Atheist's Wager Evil Free will Hell Inconsistent revelations Nonbelief Noncognitivism Occam's razor Omnipotence Poor design Russell's teapot Theology Acosmism Agnosticism Animism Antireligion Atheism Creationism Dharmism Deism Demonology Divine command theory Dualism Esotericism Exclusivism Existentialism Christian Agnostic Atheistic Feminist theology Thealogy Womanist theology Fideism Fundamentalism Gnosticism Henotheism Humanism Religious Secular Christian Inclusivism Theories about religions Monism Monotheism Mysticism Naturalism Metaphysical Religious Humanistic New Age Nondualism Nontheism Pandeism Panentheism Pantheism Perennialism Polytheism Possibilianism Process theology Religious skepticism Spiritualism Shamanism Taoic Theism Transcendentalism more... Religious language Eschatological verification Language game Logical positivism Apophatic theology Verificationism Problem of evil Augustinian theodicy Best of all possible worlds Euthyphro dilemma Inconsistent triad Irenaean theodicy Natural evil Theodicy Philosophers of religion (by date active) Ancient and medieval Anselm of Canterbury Augustine of Hippo Avicenna Averroes Boethius Erasmus Gaunilo of Marmoutiers Pico della Mirandola Heraclitus King James VI and I Marcion of Sinope Thomas Aquinas Maimonides Early modern Augustin Calmet René Descartes Blaise Pascal Baruch Spinoza Nicolas Malebranche Gottfried W Leibniz William Wollaston Thomas Chubb David Hume Baron d'Holbach Immanuel Kant Johann G Herder 1800 1850 Friedrich Schleiermacher Karl C F Krause Georg W F Hegel William Whewell Ludwig Feuerbach Søren Kierkegaard Karl Marx Albrecht Ritschl Afrikan Spir 1880 1900 Ernst Haeckel W K Clifford Friedrich Nietzsche Harald Høffding William James Vladimir Solovyov Ernst Troeltsch Rudolf Otto Lev Shestov Sergei Bulgakov Pavel Florensky Ernst Cassirer Joseph Maréchal 1920 postwar George Santayana Bertrand Russell Martin Buber René Guénon Paul Tillich Karl Barth Emil Brunner Rudolf Bultmann Gabriel Marcel Reinhold Niebuhr Charles Hartshorne Mircea Eliade Frithjof Schuon J L Mackie Walter Kaufmann Martin Lings Peter Geach George I Mavrodes William Alston Antony Flew 1970 1990 2010 William L Rowe Dewi Z Phillips Alvin Plantinga Anthony Kenny Nicholas Wolterstorff Richard Swinburne Robert Merrihew Adams Ravi Zacharias Peter van Inwagen Daniel Dennett Loyal Rue Jean-Luc Marion William Lane Craig Ali Akbar Rashad Alexander Pruss Related topics Criticism of religion Desacralization of knowledge Ethics in religion Exegesis History of religion Religion Religious language Religious philosophy Relationship between religion and science Faith and rationality more... Portal Category v t e Masters of Balliol College, Oxford Walter de Fodringeye Hugh de Warkenby Stephen de Cornubia Richard de Chickwell Thomas de Waldeby Henry de Seton Nicholas de Luceby John Poclynton Hugh Corbrygge Robert de Derby John Wycliffe John Hugate Thomas Tyrwhit Hamond Haskman William Lambert Thomas Chace Robert Burley Richard Stapilton William Brandon Robert Twaytes William Lambton John Segden Robert Abdy William Bell Richard Barningham Thomas Cisson Richard Stubbys William White George Coote William Wright James Brooks William Wright Francis Babington Antony Garnet Robert Hooper John Piers Adam Squier Edmund Lilly Robert Abbots John Parkhurst Thomas Laurence George Bradshaw Henry Savage Thomas Good John Venn Roger Mander John Baron Joseph Hunt Theophilus Leigh John Davey John Parsons Richard Jenkyns Robert Scott Benjamin Jowett Edward Caird James Strachan-Davidson Arthur Lionel Smith Alexander Dunlop Lindsay David Lindsay Keir Christopher Hill Sir Anthony Kenny Baruch Blumberg Colin Lucas Andrew Graham Drummond Bone Helen Ghosh v t e Wardens of Rhodes House, Oxford Sir Francis Wylie Professor Sir Carleton Allen Brigadier Sir Edgar Williams Robin Fletcher Sir Anthony Kenny John Rowett Sir Colin Lucas Professor Don Markwell Dr Andrew GrahamActing Warden 2012–2013 Charles R. Conn Elizabeth Kiss Authority control BIBSYS: 90066756 BNE: XX913812 BNF: cb12027392v (data) CANTIC: a10108671 CiNii: DA00659805 GND: 119516640 ISNI: 0000 0001 2278 5230 LCCN: n79021578 LNB: 000006513 NDL: 00445484 NKC: jn20010309469 NLA: 36544417 NLI: 000075180 NLK: KAC200103009 NSK: 000276271 NTA: 068237375 PLWABN: 9810623376105606 SELIBR: 324538 SNAC: w6109s6r SUDOC: 02843885X Trove: 1283587 VIAF: 39391468 WorldCat Identities: lccn-n79021578 Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Anthony_Kenny&oldid=982405169" Categories: 1931 births 20th-century English philosophers Academics from Liverpool Academics of the University of Cambridge Academics of the University of London Alumni of St Benet's Hall, Oxford Analytic philosophers Aristotelian philosophers Columbia University faculty Commentators on Aristotle Contemporary philosophers Cornell University faculty Descartes scholars English agnostics English essayists English male non-fiction writers English philosophers Fellows of Balliol College, Oxford Fellows of Harris Manchester College, Oxford Fellows of St John's College, Oxford Fellows of the British Academy Former Roman Catholics Historians of philosophy Knights Bachelor Living people Masters of Balliol College, Oxford Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters Philosophers of history Philosophers of mind Philosophers of religion Pontifical Gregorian University alumni Presidents of the British Academy Pro-Vice-Chancellors of the University of Oxford Stanford University Department of Philosophy faculty Thomist philosophers University of Chicago faculty University of Michigan faculty Wardens of Rhodes House Washington University in St. Louis faculty Wittgensteinian philosophers Hidden categories: Use dmy dates from March 2020 Articles with hCards Wikipedia articles with BIBSYS identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNE identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with CANTIC identifiers Wikipedia articles with CINII identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with LNB identifiers Wikipedia articles with NDL identifiers Wikipedia articles with NKC identifiers Wikipedia articles with NLA identifiers Wikipedia articles with NLI identifiers Wikipedia articles with NLK identifiers Wikipedia articles with NSK identifiers Wikipedia articles with NTA identifiers Wikipedia articles with PLWABN identifiers Wikipedia articles with SELIBR identifiers Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers Wikipedia articles with Trove identifiers Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Wikiquote Languages العربية Deutsch Español فارسی Íslenska Italiano Português Русский Slovenčina Српски / srpski Suomi Edit links This page was last edited on 7 October 2020, at 22:51 (UTC). Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers Contact Wikipedia Mobile view Developers Statistics Cookie statement