Thomas Dewar "Harry" Weldon (5 December 1896 – 13 May 1958) was a British philosopher.

Life

Thomas Weldon was born at 3 Bryanston Mansions, York Street,

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also ) is an area in London, England, and is located in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. Oxford Street forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropo ...

, London, in 1896. After an education at

Tonbridge School Tonbridge School is a public school (English fee-charging boarding and day school for boys aged 13–18) in Tonbridge, Kent, England, founded in 1553 by Sir Andrew Judde (sometimes spelt Judd). It is a member of the Eton Group and has clo ...

, he won a scholarship to read '' Literae humaniores'' at

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

, which he postponed to become an officer in the

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It was created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of the regiment, the ...

in 1915. He spent

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in France and Belgium, rising to acting captain, being wounded and winning the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

and bar. He finally went up to Oxford in 1919, graduating with a first class degree in 1921. Weldon was elected a fellow and philosophy tutor at his college two years later, getting to know

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer, literary scholar and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Magdalen College, Oxford (1925–1954), and Magdalen ...

. He then served as Rhodes travelling fellow in 1930. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he was a temporary civil servant in London from 1939 to 1942, then Personal Staff Officer to "Bomber Harris" in

RAF Bomber Command RAF Bomber Command controlled the Royal Air Force's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. Along with the United States Army Air Forces, it played the central role in the Strategic bombing during World War II#Europe, strategic bombing of Germany in W ...

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...

from 1942 to 1945. His final duties there involved justifying Harris's controversial bombing strategy to politicians and the public. His death in 1958 was attributed by college rumour to suicide but was in fact due to a cerebral haemorrhage.Additional biographical information found in T.D. Weldon, ''The Vocabulary of Politics'' (Penguin, 1960)

Characterization of teaching style

In a review in the ''

London Review of Books The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published bimonthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews. History The ''London Review of Book ...

'' of a newly published work by

Niall Ferguson Sir Niall Campbell Ferguson, ( ; born 18 April 1964)Biography
Niall Ferguson

, R. W. Johnson said that it amounted to a tutorial: "The idea is to teach the young to think and argue, and the real past masters at it (Harry Weldon was always held up as an example to me) were those who first argued undergraduates out of their received opinions, then turned around after a time and argued them out of their new-found radicalism, leaving them mystified as to what they believed and suspended in a free-floating state of cleverness."

Works

*''Introduction to Kant's Critique of Pure Reason'' (1945; 2nd ed., 1958) *''States and Morals'' (1946) *''The Vocabulary of Politics'' (1953)

References

* *R.W. Johnson, ''Look Back in Laughter: Oxford's Postwar Golden Age'' (2015) has extensive biographical material on Harry Weldon.

External links

Times Higher Education
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weldon 1896 births 1958 deaths People educated at Tonbridge School Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Artillery officers British Army personnel of World War I People from Marylebone Recipients of the Military Cross 20th-century English philosophers Royal Air Force wing commanders Civil servants in the Air Ministry