Brief Encounters
Notes from a Philosopher's Diary
Witty, perceptive, intellectually incisive and at times surprising portraits of some of the leading religious, political and intellectual figures of our time
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ISBN-13
9780281079193-grouped
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Sir Anthony Kenny FBA was born in Liverpool in 1931, and was educated at Upholland College and the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. From 1963 to 1989 he was at Balliol College, Oxford, first as Fellow and Tutor in Philosophy, and then as Master. He later became Warden of Rhodes House, President of the British Academy and of the Royal Institute of Philosophy, and Chair of the Board of the British Library. He is the author of over forty books on philosophy and history, including OUP’s four-volume New History of Western Philosophy and The Enlightenment: A very brief history (SPCK 2017).
Brilliantly entertaining.
As a painter of biographical portraits Anthony Kenny excels as a brilliant miniaturist. This is a marvellously stimulating way to approach autobiography. The range of his friendships and acquaintances is immense.
Few academic philosophers have had successful careers in public life as well as in scholarship. Among those few Sir Anthony Kenny stands out for the wide range of his intellect and the lively style with which he addresses both the realm of exalted ideas and the world of ordinary facts. These vignettes offer an engaging record of people who have mattered, from a writer who has always wondered whether he really belongs to our public culture, even though sitting at the top of it.
Kenny's style is unpretentious, effective, and at times wonderfully informal and amiable.
About
Cardinals, directors, dissidents, dons, judges, novelists, philosophers, prime ministers, scientists, world statesmen. . . Throughout his long and distinguished career, Sir Anthony Kenny has encountered some of the most notable and influential leaders of the post-war world.
In these brilliantly vivid vignettes, Kenny offers telling and often unexpected insights into the achievements, flaws and foibles of sixty public figures - past and present - each of whom has contributed in decisive ways to our political, spiritual and cultural heritage.
In these brilliantly vivid vignettes, Kenny offers telling and often unexpected insights into the achievements, flaws and foibles of sixty public figures - past and present - each of whom has contributed in decisive ways to our political, spiritual and cultural heritage.
Author
Sir Anthony Kenny FBA was born in Liverpool in 1931, and was educated at Upholland College and the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. From 1963 to 1989 he was at Balliol College, Oxford, first as Fellow and Tutor in Philosophy, and then as Master. He later became Warden of Rhodes House, President of the British Academy and of the Royal Institute of Philosophy, and Chair of the Board of the British Library. He is the author of over forty books on philosophy and history, including OUP’s four-volume New History of Western Philosophy and The Enlightenment: A very brief history (SPCK 2017).
Reviews
Brilliantly entertaining.
As a painter of biographical portraits Anthony Kenny excels as a brilliant miniaturist. This is a marvellously stimulating way to approach autobiography. The range of his friendships and acquaintances is immense.
Few academic philosophers have had successful careers in public life as well as in scholarship. Among those few Sir Anthony Kenny stands out for the wide range of his intellect and the lively style with which he addresses both the realm of exalted ideas and the world of ordinary facts. These vignettes offer an engaging record of people who have mattered, from a writer who has always wondered whether he really belongs to our public culture, even though sitting at the top of it.
Kenny's style is unpretentious, effective, and at times wonderfully informal and amiable.
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In these brilliantly vivid vignettes, Kenny offers telling and often unexpected insights into the achievements, flaws and foibles of sixty public figures - past and present - each of whom has contributed in decisive ways to our political, spiritual and cultural heritage.