Geoffrey Warnock

Sir Geoffrey James Warnock (16 August 1923 – 8 October 1995)^[1] was an English philosopher and Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University.^[2] Before his knighthood (in the 1986 New Year Honours), he was commonly known as G. J. Warnock.

Sir Geoffrey Warnock
(c) The Open University 1973
Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford
In office 1981–1985
Chancellor	The Earl of Stockton
Preceded by	Sir Rex Richards
Succeeded by	The Lord Neill of Bladen
Personal details
Born	Geoffrey James Warnock (1923-08-16)16 August 1923 Leeds, England
Died	8 October 1995(1995-10-08) (aged 72) Axford, Wiltshire, England
Spouse	Mary Warnock, Baroness Warnock ​ ​ (m. 1949)​
Children	5
Alma mater	Winchester College New College, Oxford
Known for	Philosopher and Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University

Life

Warnock was born at Neville House, Chapel Allerton, Leeds, West Yorkshire, to James Warnock (1880–1953), OBE, a general practitioner from Northern Ireland who had been a Captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps,^[3] and Kathleen (née Hall; 1890–1979). The Warnocks later lived at Grade II-listed^[4] Pull Croft, Sutton Courtenay, Oxfordshire (historically Berkshire).^[5][6]

Warnock was educated at Winchester College.^[1] He then served with the Irish Guards until 1945, before entering New College, Oxford, with a deferred classics scholarship. At New College, he read for a degree in PPE, graduating with a first in 1948.^[7] His tutors during his studies included Isaiah Berlin and H.L.A. Hart.^[7]

He was elected to a Fellowship at Magdalen College, Oxford, in 1949. After spending three years at Brasenose College, he returned to Magdalen as a Fellow and tutor in philosophy. In 1970, he was elected to Principal of Hertford College, Oxford (1971–1988), where there is now a society and student house named after him.^[8] He was also the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford from 1981 to 1985.^[2]

Warnock, with co-editor J. O. Urmson, prepared for posthumous 1961 publication the Philosophical Papers of their friend, and fellow Oxford linguistic philosopher, J. L. Austin.^[9] Warnock also reconstructed Austin's Sense and Sensibilia (1962) from manuscript notes.^[10]

Warnock married Mary Wilson, a fellow philosopher of St Hugh's College, Oxford, and later Baroness Warnock, in 1949. They had two sons and three daughters.^[11][12] He retired to live near Marlborough, Wiltshire, in 1988 and died of degenerative lung disease in 1995^[13] at Axford in Wiltshire.

Works

Books

• Berkeley, Penguin Books, 1953.

• English Philosophy Since 1900, 1st edition, Oxford University Press, 1958; 2nd edition, Oxford University Press, 1969.
• Contemporary Moral Philosophy (New studies in ethics), Palgrave Macmillan, 1967. ISBN 978-0333048979.
• The Object of Morality, Methuen, 1971. ISBN 0-416-13780-6.
• Morality and Language, Barnes & Noble. 1983
• J. L. Austin (The Arguments of the Philosophers), Routledge, 1989.

Papers/book chapters

• "The Primacy of Practical Reason" Proceedings of the British Academy 52, 1966 (1967)

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

References

1. Torrance, John (16 October 1995). "Obituary: Sir Geoffrey Warnock — Obituaries, News". The Independent. London. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
2. "Previous Vice-Chancellors". University of Oxford, UK. Archived from the original on 19 April 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2011.
3. The Medical Register, vol. 2- Provinces and Wales, J. & A. Churchill, Ltd, 1948, p. 2199
4. "British Listed Buildings: Number 53 (Pull Croft) and railings to front". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
5. "Warnock, Sir Geoffrey James". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/60440. Retrieved 21 March 2019. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
6. Wills and Probate 1858–1996, surname 'Warnock', year of death '1954', page 170, Warnock, James, of Pull Croft, Sutton Courtenay, died 4 December 1953, Probate to Kathleen Warnock, widow
7. Gardiner, Patrick (15 October 1995). "OBITUARY: Sir Geoffrey Warnock". The Independent. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
8. Geoffrey Warnock student accommodation Archived 1 October 2005 at the Wayback Machine, Hertford College, Oxford, UK.
9. Austin, J. L. (1961). Urmson, J. O.; Warnock, G. J. (eds.). Philosophical Papers. Universal Digital Library. Oxford University Press. OL 5843510M.
10. Austin, J. L. (John Langshaw) (1964). Sense and Sensibilia. Internet Archive. London : Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-500307-9.
11. "Belief transcript: Mary Warnock interview". archived at the Wayback Machine, 6 February 2007. Archived from the original on 6 February 2007.
12. "House of Lords". TheyWorkForYou. 25 July 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
13. "Mary Warnock". The Gifford Lectures. 18 August 2014. Archived from the original on 28 March 2019. Retrieved 22 March 2019.

External links

• Geoffrey Warnock on Kant on YouTube Discussion with Bryan Magee
• Behaviour control: freedom and morality (video) Warnock in discussion with B. F Skinner and host Godfrey Vesey (Open University, 1972)
• Photograph of Geoffrey and Mary Warnock by Steve Pyke

Academic offices
Preceded by George Lindor Brown	Principal of Hertford College, Oxford 1971–1988	Succeeded by Christopher Zeeman
Preceded by Sir Rex Richards	Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University 1981–1985	Succeeded by Lord Neill of Bladen