Sydney Sparkes Orr (6 December 1914 - 15 July 1966) was Professor of

Philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

at the

University of Tasmania The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College (University of Tasmania), Christ College, one of the unive ...

and the centre of the "Orr case", a celebrated academic scandal of the 1950s. Born in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

in 1914, Orr achieved a first-class-honours BA in Philosophy and received an MA with special commendation at Queen's University before commencing his teaching career at the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

and the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

. In 1952 he was appointed to the chair of philosophy at the University of Tasmania, after falsifying his academic record in his application. In 1955 the University dismissed him for sexual relations with an undergraduate student. He denied the accusation but his appeals to the Tasmanian Supreme Court and the

High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is the apex court of the Australian legal system. It exercises original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified in the Constitution of Australia and supplementary legislation. The High Court was establi ...

were unsuccessful. Many academics believed Orr had been denied due process and his position was declared "black". Many also thought that Orr had been made a scapegoat due to his openly challenging the University authorities.E.g., Martin B
Knowledge and Power in Academia
'

Honi Soit ''Honi Soit'' is the student newspaper of the University of Sydney. First published in 1929, the newspaper is produced by an elected editorial team and a select group of reporters sourced from the university's populace. Its name is an abbrev ...

6 August 1991, p. 10 Orr died in 1966, shortly after reaching a monetary settlement with the university of .

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*W. D. Joske
Orr, Sydney Sparkes (1914? - 1966)
',

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

, Volume 15, Melbourne University Press, 2000, pp 543–544. *W. H. C. Eddy (1961) ''Orr'', Jacaranda Publishers, Brisbane *John Polya and Robert Solomon (1996) ''Dreyfus in Australia'', Privately Published, Sydney, NSW. *Clyde Manwell and C. M. Ann Baker (1986) ''"Not Merely Malice": The University of Tasmania Versus Professor Orr,'' in Brian Martin, C. M. Ann Baker, Clyde Manwell and Cedric Pugh (eds.), ''Intellectual Suppression. Australian Case Histories, Analysis and Responses'', Angus and Robertson, North Ryde (NSW) pp. 39–49 *Cassandra Pybus (1994) ''Seduction and Consent: A Case of Gross Moral Turpitude'', Mandarin, Port Melbourne *J. Franklin (2003) ''Corrupting the Youth: A History of Philosophy in Australia'', Macleay Press
ch. 3
*

'(1957) 100 Commonwealth Law Reports 526

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Further reading