College Crest Watermark
College Crest

St Anne's College

University of Oxford

Alumnæ & Friends

Philosophy Fellowship

St Anne’s has a long and distinguished history of teaching and research in Philosophy – past Fellows include Dame Iris Murdoch, Gwynneth Matthews, Gabriele Taylor and Alison Denham. Yet College currently has no funding for its Philosophy schools.

In order to secure the long-term future of teaching of Philosophy at St Anne’s against the uncertainties of University and public funding, we are aiming to raise £2 million to endow this Fellowship permanently.

Should we achieve our aim, St Anne’s will be able to offer the next generation of students for its Philosophy Schools (PPE, PPP, Mathematics and Modern Languages) the same opportunities and education as we have done in the past.

The post will be named after Gabriele Taylor in recognition of her 34 years teaching at St Anne’s and her contribution to philosophical thought.

Gabriele Taylor was interviewed in August 2011 by Dr Nigel Bowles, Director of the Rothermere American Institute at the University of Oxford, and spoke about St Anne’s and her interests in ethics. The interview is available is available on ITunes and the University's podcast website.

Gabriele Taylor's work is essential reading for professional philosophers with an interest in moral theory and, in particular moral psychology, and is at the same time accessible to a lay audience.  It is sophisticated, deeply sensitive and elegantly written.  In my estimation, she has a most prominent place in the pantheon of great 20th century moral philosophers."

Luc Bovens, Professor and Head of Department in the Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method at the LSE

Gabriele Taylor is, quite simply, inspirational. As my philosophy – and moral - tutor during my years at St Anne's, she gently instilled in me the value of taking time to think. Her patience, tolerance, generosity of spirit and good humour taught that it's always worth listening to the contributions of others and trying to look at issues from a perspective other than one's own. I'm forever thankful to have had such a wonderful role model."

Helen Birtwhistle (PPE 1977), Director of the Welsh NHS Confederation

At the Philosophy Reunion on 25 February 2012 we launched the campaign to endow the post of Tutor and Fellow in Philosophy at St Anne’s College. 
You can read the speeches given at the event by Professor Roger Crisp (Uehiro Fellow and Tutor in Philosophy) and Rosemary Radcliffe (PPE 1963) about the future of Philosophy at St Anne’s. 

At the reunion, the seminar on Emotion, Imagination and Education by Professor Kathleen Lennon and following panel discussion with Dr Dawn Wilson and Dr Constantine Sandis, was recorded and is now available on the University of Oxford’s podcast website

Please contact Wouter te Kloeze (+44(0)1865 284622) if you wish to make a donation or if you have more questions about the campaign.