William Henry Walsh (; 10 December 1913 – 7 April 1986) was a 20th-century British philosopher and classicist. He was an expert on

Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (born Emanuel Kant; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German Philosophy, philosopher and one of the central Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works ...

. In an essay on "Meaning in History," he argued that the role of the historian is to neither to catalogue events nor to trace chains of causation, but rather to draw out connections between details and events in ways that make the past, if never quite tidy, then still broadly intelligible.

Life

Walsh was born in

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

on 10 December 1913, the son of Fred Walsh and his wife May Stephens. His father was a Baptist and his mother a Catholic, but he was raised with no religion in his life. He was one of three children, with two sisters Mary and Muriel. The family moved to

Baildon Baildon is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Bradford, Bradford Metropolitan Borough in West Yorkshire, England and within the Historic counties of England, historic boundaries of the West Riding of Yorkshire. ...

near

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

in his infancy. Walsh was educated at

and

Leeds Grammar School Leeds Grammar School was an independent school founded 1552 in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Originally a male-only school, in August 2005 it merged with Leeds Girls' High School to form The Grammar School at Leeds. The two schools physica ...

on a scholarship. Walsh studied classics at

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 126 ...

under G. R. G. Mure, taking his BA in 1935; he became a Fellow of Merton the following year, and held his Fellowship - with two short intervals, 1940-1945 and 1946-1947 - until 1960. During the

Second World War 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 ...

, Walsh served in the

Royal Signal Corps The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communications an ...

(1940–1941). He was posted to the Cryptography School at Bedford, and then to do intelligence work for the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...

(1941–1945), based at

Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and Bletchley Park estate, estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes (Buckinghamshire), that became the principal centre of Allies of World War II, Allied World War II cryptography, code-breaking during the S ...

. Walsh was made Professor of Logic and Metaphysics in the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

(1960–1979) later emeritus; and one of the three

Vice Principal In larger school systems, a head teacher principal is often assisted by someone known as a vice-principal, deputy principal, or assistant/associate principal. Unlike the principal, the vice-principal does not have quite the decision-making author ...

s of the University of Edinburgh (1975–1979). In 1979, Walsh was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

. His proposers were John Steven Watson, Matthew Black, Norman Gash and Frank Gunstone. Walsh returned to Merton College in 1979. Walsh died of

melanoma Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer; it develops from the melanin-producing cells known as melanocytes. It typically occurs in the skin, but may rarely occur in the mouth, intestines, or eye (uveal melanoma). In very rare case ...

of the brain on 7 April 1986.

Family

In 1938, Walsh married Frances Beatrix "Trixie" Ruth Pearson who studied French at Oxford. They had three children, one son and two daughters, all of whom went to Oxford University.

Publications

* ''Reason and Experience'' (1947) * ''An Introduction to Philosophy of History'' (1951) * ''Metaphysics'' (1963) * ''Hegelian Ethics'' (1969) * ''Kant's Criticism of Metaphysics'' (1976)

References

Sources

* Leon Pompa, ‘Walsh, William Henry (1913–1986)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200

* ‘WALSH, Prof. William Henry’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 200
accessed 18 Feb 2012
.
"Papers of William Henry Walsh (1913-1986)."Edinburgh University Archives
Accessed February 2012. {{DEFAULTSORT:Walsh, W. H. 1913 births 1986 deaths Fellows of the British Academy Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 20th-century British philosophers Philosophers of history Academics of the University of Edinburgh Presidents of the Aristotelian Society 20th-century English historians Royal Corps of Signals soldiers Alumni of Merton College, Oxford Fellows of Merton College, Oxford British Army personnel of World War II Writers from Leeds Military personnel from Leeds