Sir Anthony Kenny Kt. DPhil DLitt Hon. DCL FBA

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Date 6 August 2026

The College is very sad to learn of the death of Sir Anthony Kenny, Emeritus Fellow of St John’s and formerly Warden of Rhodes House and Master of Balliol College, on 3 August 2026 at the age of 95.

Sir Anthony Kenny

Sir Anthony Kenny was a Professorial Fellow of St John’s College from 1989 to 1999 whilst Warden of Rhodes House. He was previously Tutorial Fellow in Philosophy (1964–78) at Balliol and subsequently Master (1978–89). He was also President of the British Academy (1989–93) and both Pro-Vice Chancellor (1984–2001) and Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Development (1999–2001) at Oxford University.

Sir Anthony wrote widely on the philosophy of mind and of religion, including Action, Emotion and Will (1963), The Aristotelian Ethics (1978) and important works on Wittgenstein and Thomas Aquinas. He published the four-volume A New History of Western Philosophy (2004–07) and latterly The Enlightenment: a short history (2017), followed by Immanuel Kant: a short history (2019). In 2006 he was awarded the American Catholic Philosophical Association's Aquinas Medal for his significant contributions to philosophy.

Sir Anthony was made a Knight Bachelor in 1992 and was an Honorary Bencher of Lincoln’s Inn since 1999.

The thoughts of the College are with Sir Anthony's family, friends, former colleagues, and students.

Details of his funeral and memorial celebration will be added when available.