Sir Geoffrey James Warnock (16 August 19238 October 1995) was an English

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

and Vice-Chancellor of

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. Before his knighthood (in the 1986

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), he was commonly known as G. J. Warnock.

Life

Warnock was born at Neville House,

Chapel Allerton Chapel Allerton is an inner suburb of north-east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, from the city centre. It sits within the Chapel Allerton ward of Leeds City Council and had a population of 18,206 and 23,536 at the 2001 and 2011 census respe ...

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popul ...

, West Yorkshire, to James Warnock (1880–1953), OBE, a general practitioner from Northern Ireland who had been a Captain in the

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, and Kathleen (née Hall; 1890–1979). The Warnocks later lived at

Grade II-listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

Pull Croft,

Sutton Courtenay Sutton Courtenay is a village and civil parish on the River Thames south of Abingdon-on-Thames and northwest of Didcot. Historically part of Berkshire, it has been administered as part of Oxfordshire since the 1974 boundary changes. The ...

, Oxfordshire (historically

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Ber ...

). Warnock was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of ...

. He then served with the

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until 1945, before entering

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at ...

, with a

classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

scholarship. He was elected to a Fellowship at

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the ...

, in 1949. After spending three years at

Brasenose College Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the m ...

, he returned to Magdalen as a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

and tutor in philosophy. In 1970, he was elected to Principal of

Hertford College, Oxford Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main gate to the Bodleian Library. The col ...

(1971–1988), where there is now a society and student house named after him. He was also the

Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford is the chief executive and leader of the University of Oxford. The following people have been vice-chancellors of the University of Oxford (formally known as The Right Worshipful the Vice-Chan ...

from 1981 to 1985. Warnock, with co-editor

J. O. Urmson James Opie Urmson (4 March 1915 – 29 January 2012), was a philosopher and classicist who spent most of his professional career at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He was a prolific author and expert on a number of topics including British anal ...

, prepared for posthumous 1961 publication the ''Philosophical Papers'' of their friend, and fellow Oxford linguistic philosopher,

J. L. Austin John Langshaw Austin (26 March 1911 – 8 February 1960) was a British philosopher of language and leading proponent of ordinary language philosophy, perhaps best known for developing the theory of speech acts. Austin pointed out that we u ...

. Warnock also reconstructed Austin's '' Sense and Sensibilia'' (1962) from manuscript notes. Warnock married Mary Wilson, a fellow philosopher of

St Hugh's College, Oxford St Hugh's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. It is located on a site on St Margaret's Road, to the north of the city centre. It was founded in 1886 by Elizabeth Wordsworth as a women's college, and acce ...

, and later Baroness Warnock, in 1949. They had two sons and three daughters. He retired to live near

Marlborough, Wiltshire Marlborough ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire on the Old Bath Road, the old main road from London to Bath. The town is on the River Kennet, 24 miles (39 km) north of Salisbury and 10 miles ...

, in 1988 and died of degenerative lung disease in 1995 at Axford in Wiltshire.

Works

For a more complete list of Warnock's works see his

PhilPapers PhilPapers is an interactive academic database of Academic journal, journal articles in philosophy. It is maintained by the Centre for Digital Philosophy at the University of Western Ontario, and as of 2022, it has "394,867 registered users, incl ...

br>entry
* '' Berkeley'',

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.English Philosophy Since 1900'', 1st edition,

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...

, 1958; 2nd edition, Oxford University Press, 1969. *'' Contemporary Moral Philosophy (New studies in ethics)'',

Palgrave Macmillan Palgrave Macmillan is a British academic and trade publishing company headquartered in the London Borough of Camden. Its programme includes textbooks, journals, monographs, professional and reference works in print and online. It maintains off ...

, 1967. . *'' The Object of Morality'', Methuen, 1971. . *'' Morality and Language,''

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. 1983 *''J. L. Austin (The Arguments of the Philosophers)'',

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law ...

, 1989.

References

External links

* Discussion with

Bryan Magee Bryan Edgar Magee (; 12 April 1930 – 26 July 2019) was a British philosopher, broadcaster, politician and author, best known for bringing philosophy to a popular audience. Early life Born of working-class parents in Hoxton, London, in 1930, w ...

*
Behaviour control: freedom and morality
' (video) Warnock in discussion with B. F Skinner and host Godfrey Vesey (

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's underg ...

, 1972)
Photograph of Geoffrey and Mary Warnock by Steve Pyke
in ''

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'' by

Patrick Gardiner Patrick Lancaster Gardiner, FBA (1922–1997) was a British academic philosopher and a Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford. Biography Gardiner was born in Chelsea, London, on 17 March 1922. His father was Clive Gardiner, a landscape artist and ...

, an
another obituary
in the same newspaper by John Torrance] *
The Primacy of Practical Reason
' by G J Warnock (1967 Dawes Hicks Lecture on Philosophy) {{DEFAULTSORT:Warnock, Geoffrey 1923 births 1995 deaths 20th-century English historians Alumni of New College, Oxford Analytic philosophers Fellows of Brasenose College, Oxford Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford George Berkeley scholars Knights Bachelor People educated at Winchester College People from Chapel Allerton Philosophers of education Philosophers of history Principals of Hertford College, Oxford Spouses of life peers Vice-Chancellors of the University of Oxford 20th-century English philosophers British Army personnel of World War II Irish Guards soldiers