View source for Anthony Kenny

{{Short description|British philosopher of Analytical Thomism (born 1931)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox philosopher
| image            = Anthony John Patrick Kenny.jpg
| caption          = Kenny in 2010
| region           = [[Western philosophy]] 
| era              = [[Contemporary philosophy]] 
| honorific_prefix = [[Sir]]
| name             = Anthony Kenny
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|FBA}}
| birth_name       = Anthony John Patrick Kenny
| birth_date       = {{Birth date and age|1931|03|16|df=yes}}
| birth_place      = [[Liverpool]], [[Lancashire]], England
| alma_mater       = [[Venerable English College]]<br/>[[St Benet's Hall, Oxford]]
| institutions     = [[University of Oxford]]
| school_tradition = [[Analytical Thomism]]
| main_interests   = [[Philosophy of religion]], [[philosophy of mind]], [[history of philosophy]]
| notable_ideas    = Criticism of [[Cartesian dualism]]<ref>Kenny, A. (1997), ''A Brief History of Western Philosophy'', Blackwell, pp. 207–8.</ref>
| module           = {{Infobox clergy 
| child            = yes
| religion         = [[Catholicism]]
| church           = [[Latin Church|Roman Catholic Church]]
| ordained         = 1955
| laicized         = 1963
}}
}}
'''Sir Anthony John Patrick Kenny''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|FBA}} (born 16 March 1931) is a British [[philosopher]] whose interests lie in the [[philosophy of mind]], [[ancient philosophy|ancient]] and [[Scholasticism|scholastic]] philosophy, the [[philosophy of religion]], and the philosophy of [[Ludwig Wittgenstein|Wittgenstein]] of whose [[literary estate]] he is an executor. With [[Peter Geach]], he has made a significant contribution to [[analytical Thomism]], a movement whose aim is to present the thought of St. [[Thomas Aquinas]] in the style of [[analytic philosophy]]. He is a former president of the [[British Academy]] and the [[Royal Institute of Philosophy]].

==Education and early career==
Kenny was born in Liverpool on 16 March 1931, the son of John and Margaret (Jones) Kenny.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=Kenny, Sir Anthony (John Patrick), (born 16 March 1931), Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Oxford University, 1984–2001 (Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Development, 1999–2001); Warden, Rhodes House, 1989–99; Professorial Fellow, St John's College, Oxford, 1989–99, now Emeritus Fellow; Master of Balliol College, Oxford, 1978–89 |url=https://www.ukwhoswho.com/display/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-22897 |url-access=subscription |access-date=2023-12-13 |website=WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO |date=2007 |language=en |doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u22897 |quote=Born Liverpool 16 March 1931; s of John Kenny and Margaret Jones; m 1966, Nancy Caroline, d of Henry T. Gayley, Jr, Swarthmore, Pa; two s}}</ref>

Kenny initially trained as a [[Roman Catholic priest]] at the [[Venerable English College]], [[Rome]], where he received a degree of [[Licentiate of Sacred Theology]] (STL) degree. He was ordained in 1955 and served as a [[curate]] in [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Liverpool|Liverpool]] (1959–63).

Having received his [[Doctor of Philosophy|DPhil]] from the [[University of Oxford]] ([[St Benet's Hall, Oxford|St Benet's Hall]]) in 1961, he also worked as an assistant lecturer at the [[University of Liverpool]] (1961–63). However, he questioned the validity of [[Roman Catholic doctrine]] and has been an [[agnostic]] since the late 1960s.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2018/14-december/features/interviews/interview-anthony-kenny-philosopher|title=Interview: Anthony Kenny, philosopher|website=www.churchtimes.co.uk|access-date=2019-03-16|quote=I’m agnostic about the existence of God. I don’t find the arguments of atheists like Dawkins convincing, nor the arguments of Aquinas. The sensible thing to say is that I don’t know.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://spckpublishing.co.uk/blog/a-chat-with-anthony-kenny.html|title=A Chat with Anthony Kenny|website=spckpublishing.co.uk|access-date=2019-03-16|quote=since the 1960s I have remained in the philosophical position I then adopted: agnostic about the existence of God, sceptical about the possibility of life after death}}</ref> He was returned to the lay state in 1963,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Shortt |first=Rupert |date=2018-11-02 |title=Matter matters: A prominent thinker recalls the great and the good. |url=https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&issn=0307661X&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA632755012&sid=googleScholar&linkaccess=abs |journal=TLS. Times Literary Supplement |language=English |issue=6031 |pages=14–16 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210428031011/https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/matter-matters-anthony-kenny/ |archive-date=28 April 2021 |quote=his path to Parnassus was unusual. Raised by a single mother in 1930s Liverpool after his father walked out when Tony was two, he found a mentor in his uncle Alec (Alexander Jones), a distinguished scholar-priest, before himself opting at the age of twelve to train for ordination. Brief Encounters describes the move as disastrous. Kenny was laicized by papal fiat in 1963, having gradually lost his faith while a doctoral student.}}</ref> but according to [[Canon law (Catholic Church)|canon law]] his priestly ordination remains valid. He was never released from his obligation of clerical celibacy and was therefore [[excommunicate]]d on his marriage in 1965 to Nancy Gayley<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Byrnes |first=Sholto |date=27 May 2006 |title=An agnostic happy to nurse the 'vice' of religion |language=en |work=[[The Times]] |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/article/an-agnostic-happy-to-nurse-the-vice-of-religion-cmpn79rhxdj |access-date=2023-12-12 |issn=0140-0460 |quote=Kenny became a Fellow and tutor of Balliol in 1963, having left the priesthood after two years as a curate in Liverpool, his birthplace. A condition of his proceeding to a doctorate at the Gregorian University (he had already passed the exams) was that he take an oath declaring that it was possible to demonstrate the existence of God. Increasingly doubtful about attaching meaning to any statements about God at all, let alone proving his existence, Kenny obtained permission to return to the lay state. He was not, however, released from his vow of celibacy, and so was automatically excommunicated when he married in 1965.}}</ref> with whom he had two sons, Charles and Robert.

==Academic career==
During 1963–64, Kenny was a lecturer in philosophy at [[Exeter College, Oxford|Exeter]] and [[Trinity College, Oxford|Trinity]] Colleges, Oxford, and he served as University Lecturer 1965–78. From 1964 until 1978, he was a Fellow of [[Balliol College, Oxford]] and Senior Tutor during the periods 1971–72 and 1976–78. He was [[Master (college)|Master]] of Balliol from 1978 to 1989 and subsequently an Honorary Fellow. During the period 1989–99, he was both [[Warden (college)|Warden]] of [[Rhodes House]] (manager of the [[Rhodes Scholarship]] program) and Professorial Fellow of [[St John's College, Oxford|St John's College]] and thereafter Fellow [[Emeritus]]. He was [[Pro-Vice-Chancellor]] of the [[University of Oxford]] from 1984 to 2001 (Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Development, 1999–2001). He retired in 2001.

Within the university, Kenny was Wilde Lecturer in Natural and Comparative Religion (1969–72), Speaker's Lecturer in Biblical Studies (1980–83), a member of the Hebdomadal Council (1981–93), Vice-chairman of the Libraries Board (1985–88), Curator of the [[Bodleian Library]] (1985–88) and a Delegate, and member of the Finance Committee, of [[Oxford University Press]] (1986–93). From 1972 until 1973 he was the editor of ''[[The Oxford Magazine]]''. He received the degree of [[Doctor of Letters|DLitt]] in 1980 and the honorary degree of [[Doctor of Civil Law|DCL.]] in 1987.

He was a member of the Board of the [[British Library]] 1991-96 and Chairman 1993–96, and has served as Chairman of the Society for Protection of Science and Learning (1989–93), of the British National Corpus Advisory Board (1990–95), of the British Irish Association (1990–94), and of the Board of the [[Warburg Institute]] (1996–2000). He was elected a Fellow of the [[British Academy]] in 1974 and served as a member of the Council of the Academy 1985–88, as Vice President 1986–88 and President 1989–93.

Kenny was Gifford Lecturer at the [[University of Edinburgh]] 1972–73 and at the [[University of Glasgow]] in 1988, Stanton Lecturer at the [[University of Cambridge]] 1980–83, and [[Bampton Lectures (Columbia University)|Bampton Lecturer at Columbia University]] in 1983. He was a visiting professor at [[University of Chicago]], [[Washington University in St. Louis]], [[University of Michigan]], [[University of Minnesota]], [[Cornell University]], [[Stanford University]] and [[Rockefeller University]].

He has been a member of the American Philosophical Society since 1993, and of the [[Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters]] since 1993, and an Honorary Fellow of [[Harris Manchester College, Oxford]] since 1996, and of the [[School of Advanced Study|School of Advanced Study, University of London]] since 2002 (Senior Distinguished Fellow 2002–3). He has received the honorary degrees of [[Doctor of Letters|D.Litt.]] from [[University of Bristol|Bristol]] (1982), [[University of Liverpool|Liverpool]] (1988), [[University of Glasgow|Glasgow]] (1990), [[Trinity College, Dublin]] (1992), [[University of Hull|Hull]] (1993), [[University of Sheffield|Sheffield]] (1995), and [[University of Warwick|Warwick]] (1995), of [[Doctorate|D.Hum.Litt.]] from [[Denison University]], Ohio (1986) and [[Lafayette College]], Pennsylvania (1990) and of [[Doctor of Civil Law|D.C.L.]] from the [[Queen's University of Belfast]] (1994).

Kenny translated into English [[Ludwig Wittgenstein]]'s ''Philosophical Grammar'', published in 1974.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Erbacher |first1=Christian |title=The Happy Afterlife of Ludwig W. The People that Made Wittgensteinʼs Books and Turned Him Into the Worldʼs Most Popular Philosopher |date=2023 |publisher=J.B. Metzler |page=17}}</ref>

==Philosophical work==
Although deeply interested in traditional Catholic teaching and continuing to take limited participation in the [[Catholic Mass]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dowling |first=W. C. |author-link=William C. Dowling |date=2003 |title=Meaningless grades and a new dishonesty. |url=https://english.rutgers.edu/images/documents/faculty/dowling-ja-2003.pdf |journal=[[Academic Questions]] |volume=76 |issue=4 |page=61 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930105750/https://english.rutgers.edu/images/documents/faculty/dowling-ja-2003.pdf |archive-date=30 September 2015 |quote=I was reading Anthony Kenny’s ''A Life in Oxford''. . . . After he has applied for and achieved laicization, married, and taken up a position at Oxford, Kenny—by now an agnostic—continues to attend Catholic Mass. But he does so as a non-Catholic, always careful to limit his participation in the liturgy to those portions that do not imply either religious belief or membership in the Church. His reasoning [being] . . .  'to recite the Creed or receive Communion would be, in my view, not only a sacrifice of integrity on the part of the unbeliever but also an insult to the seriousness with which these actions are undertaken by believers.'}}</ref> Kenny now explicitly defines himself as an [[Agnosticism|agnostic]], explaining in the third chapter of his ''What I Believe'' (2006) both why he is not a theist and why he is not an atheist:<blockquote>"Many different definitions may be offered of the word 'God'. Given this fact, atheism makes a much stronger claim than theism does. The atheist says that no matter what definition you choose, 'God exists' is always false. The theist only claims that there is some definition which will make 'God exists' true. In my view, neither the stronger nor the weaker claim has been convincingly established."<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Kenny |first=Anthony |url= |title=What I Believe |date=2006-07-03 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-0-8264-8971-5 |page=21 |language=en |chapter=Why I am Not an Atheist |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bQnZcFiCz8QC&pg=PA21 |url-access=}}</ref></blockquote>He goes on: "the true default position is neither theism nor atheism, but agnosticism ... a claim to knowledge needs to be substantiated; ignorance need only be confessed."<ref name=":0" />

That (as Kenny puts it) "there is no such being as the God of traditional natural theology: the concept of God propounded by scholastic theologians and rationalistic philosophers is an incoherent one"<ref name=":2" /> is, according to [[William Hasker]],  the 'most important conclusion' of Kenny's 'essay in natural theology' ''The God of the Philosophers'' (1979).<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Hasker |first=William |author-link=William Hasker |date=1981 |title=Review of The God of the Philosophers |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2184617 |journal=The Philosophical Review |volume=90 |issue=4 |pages=621–624 |doi=10.2307/2184617 |jstor=2184617 |issn=0031-8108|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Hasker notes, however, that (in the book's final chapter) Kenny "considers seriously the possible existence of a God who, while differing somewhat in his attributes from the God of traditional natural theology, could still be identified with the saving God of theistic faith."<ref name=":3" />

Hasker further notes that Kenny "concludes by suggesting that one who is in doubt about God may rationally pray for enlightenment about his existence and nature:"<ref name=":3" /> As Kenny asserts: "It surely is no more unreasonable than the act of a man adrift in the ocean, trapped in a cave, or stranded on a mountainside, who cries for help though he may never be heard or fires a signal which may never be seen."<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Kenny |first=Anthony |url=http://archive.org/details/godofphilosopher0000kenn |title=The God of the philosophers |date=1979 |publisher=Oxford : Clarendon Press; New York: Oxford University Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-19-824594-0 |pages=121, 179 |url-access=registration}}</ref> And if there is such a God, then such prayer "cannot be less pleasing to him than the attitude of a man who takes no interest in a question so important, or in a question so difficult would not welcome assistance beyond human powers.".<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />

Kenny has written extensively on [[Thomas Aquinas]] and modern [[Thomism]]. In ''The Five Ways'' (1969),<ref>{{Cite book |last=Anthony Kenny |url=http://archive.org/details/anthony-kenny-studies-in-5-ways-of-aquinas |title=Anthony Kenny Studies In 5 Ways Of Aquinas |date=2018 |url-access=registration |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> he deals with St. Thomas' five proofs of God. In it, he argues that none of the proofs Thomas sets out is wholly valid, and instead sets out to show the flaws in the five ways.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=J. W. |date=1970-06-01 |title=The Five Ways: St. Thomas Aquinas' Proofs of God's Existence. By Anthony Kenny, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. 1969. 120. $4.50. |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0012217300041846/type/journal_article |journal=[[Dialogue journal|Dialogue]] |language=en |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=130–131 |doi=10.1017/S0012217300041846 |issn=0012-2173 |quote=This book is intended as a critical exposition of the arguments for God's existence presented by Aquinas in the ''Summa Theologiae''. Looking for illumination in parallel passages in Aquinas' works, Kenny tries to clarify the meaning of each alleged proof, often disagreeing with other expositors. Kenny finds all the arguments wanting: in each case, at least one premise is questionable if not downright false or some logical fallacy has been committed. Needless to say, this conclusion will come as no surprise to philosophers familiar with attempts to demonstrate rationally the existence of God|url-access=subscription }}</ref> His arguments range from the problem of Aristotelian motion in a modern scientific context,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Durrant |first=Michael |date=June 1971 |title=Anthony Kenny. The Five Ways: St Thomas Aquinas' Proofs of God's Existence. Pp. 120. (Studies in Ethics and the Philosophy of Religion, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1969). |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0034412500001992/type/journal_article |journal=Religious Studies |language=en |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=187–189 |doi=10.1017/S0034412500001992 |issn=0034-4125|url-access=subscription }}</ref> to the ability of contingent beings to cause eternality in other contingent beings. His objections all focus on a modern interpretation of St. Thomas.{{Citation needed|date=November 2021}}

Kenny candidly describes the predicament of the beginning of the universe, which both atheists and agnostics face, writing, "According to the Big Bang Theory, the whole matter of the universe began at a particular time in the remote past. A proponent of such a theory, at least if he is an atheist, must believe that the matter of the universe came from nothing and by nothing."<ref>Anthony Kenny, ''[[iarchive:anthony-kenny-studies-in-5-ways-of-aquinas|The Five Ways: St. Thomas Aquinas' Proofs of God's Existence]]'' (New York: Schocken, 1969), [[iarchive:anthony-kenny-studies-in-5-ways-of-aquinas/page/66/mode/1up|p. 66]]</ref>

In ''What Is Faith?'' (1992), Kenny addresses "the question of whether belief in God, and faith in a divine world, is a reasonable or rational state of mind."<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Kenny |first=Anthony |url=http://archive.org/details/whatisfaithessay0000kenn |title=What is faith? : essays in the philosophy of religion |date=1992 |publisher=Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-19-283067-8 |pages=3, 9–10 |url-access=registration}}</ref> He criticises the idea, "common to theists like [[Aquinas]] and [[Descartes]] and to an atheist like [[Bertrand Russell|Russell]]," that "Rational belief [is] either self-evident or based directly or indirectly on what is evident", which he terms "[[foundationalism]]" following [[Alvin Plantinga|Plantinga]],<ref name=":1" /> arguing that foundationalism is a [[self-refuting idea]].

During the 2000s Kenny wrote a history of [[Western philosophy]], released in four parts from 2004 to 2007; the four books were released together as ''[[A New History of Western Philosophy]]'' in 2010.<ref>Kenny, Anthony. ''A New History of Western Philosophy'', p xiv.</ref>

In ''Brief Encounters'' (2018) Kenny says [[Jacques Derrida|Derrida]] was "corrupted by being famous. He gave up philosophy for rhetoric, and rhetoric of a particularly childish kind".<ref name="brief">{{cite book |last1=Kenny |first1=Anthony |title=Brief Encounters: Notes from a Philosopher's Diary |date=2018 |publisher=SPCK |isbn=978-0281079193 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PTVxDwAAQBAJ}}</ref> Writing of [[Richard Dawkins]], he suggests that "moving from ''[[The Extended Phenotype]]'' to ''[[The God Delusion]]'' is like moving from the ''[[Financial Times]]'' to ''[[The Sun (United Kingdom)|The Sun]]''."  He commends [[Denis Noble]]'s principle of 'Biological Relativity' which states (according to Kenny) that "in biology there is no privileged level of causation: living organisms and multilevel open systems in which the behaviour at any level depends on higher and lower levels".<ref name="brief" />

==Honours and awards==
Kenny was made a [[Knight Bachelor]] by [[Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom]] in 1992 and has been an Honorary Bencher of [[Lincoln's Inn]] since 1999.

In October 2006, Kenny was awarded the American Catholic Philosophical Association's Aquinas Medal for his significant contributions to philosophy.

Portraits of Kenny hang in the [[British Academy]], London, and at [[Balliol College]] and [[Rhodes House]], Oxford.<ref>[https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/six-academy-presidents-gallus-gallus-with-still-life-and-presidents-215017 Art UK]</ref><ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1397582.stm bbc.co.uk]</ref><ref>[https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/sir-anthony-kenny-fellow-and-tutor-in-philosophy-19641978-master-19781989-warden-of-rhodes-house-1989-president-of-the-british-academy-1989-221625 Art UK]</ref>

==Published works==
* Kenny, A. (1963) ''Action, Emotion and Will''. London: Routledge. {{ISBN|0-415-30374-5}}
* Kenny, A. (1963) ''Responsa Alumnorum of English College, Rome,'' 2 vols, [[Catholic Record Society]]: Records series, vols. [https://issuu.com/tcrs/docs/volume54 54]–[https://issuu.com/tcrs/docs/volume55 55].
* Kenny, A. (1968) ''[[iarchive:descartesstudyof00kenn|Descartes :a study of his philosophy]]'' 
* Kenny, A. (1969) ''[[iarchive:anthony-kenny-studies-in-5-ways-of-aquinas|The Five Ways: St. Thomas Aquinas' Proofs of God's Existence]]''. London: Routledge. {{ISBN|0-415-31845-9}}
* (ed.) Kenny, A. (1969) ''[[iarchive:aquinascollectio00kenn|Aquinas: a collection of critical essays]]''. New York: Hill and Wang. {{ISBN|0-8090-2724-0}}
** Kenny, A. (1969) "Introduction" {{doi|10.1007/978-1-349-15356-5_1}}
** Kenny, A. (1969) "Divine foreknowledge and human freedom" {{doi|10.1007/978-1-349-15356-5_11}}
** Kenny, A. (1969) "Intellect and imagination in Aquinas" {{doi|10.1007/978-1-349-15356-5_12}}
* Kenny, A., [[H. Christopher Longuet-Higgins|Longuet-Higgins, H. C.]], [[John Lucas (philosopher)|Lucas, J. R.]], [[Conrad Hal Waddington|Waddington, C. H.]] (1972), ''The Nature of Mind'', Edinburgh University Press ([[Gifford Lectures]], [https://web.archive.org/web/20080622000452/http://www.giffordlectures.org/Browse.asp?PubID=TPTNOM&Cover=TRUE online]) {{ISBN|0-85224-235-2}}
* Kenny, A., Longuet-Higgins, H. C., Lucas, J. R., Waddington, C. H. (1973), ''The Development of Mind'', Edinburgh University Press (Gifford Lectures, [https://web.archive.org/web/20080621235816/http://www.giffordlectures.org/Browse.asp?PubID=TPTDOM&Cover=TRUE online]) {{ISBN|0-85224-263-8}}
* Kenny, A. (1973) ''Wittgenstein''. Harmondsworth: The Penguin Press. {{ISBN|0-14-021581-6}}
* Kenny, A. (1974) ''[[iarchive:anatomyofsoulhis0000kenn|The Anatomy of the Soul]]''
* Kenny, A. (1975) ''[[iarchive:willfreedompower0000kenn|Will, Freedom and Power]]''
* Kenny, A. (1978) ''[[iarchive:aristotelianethi0000kenn|The Aristotelian Ethics: A Study of the Relationship between the Eudemian and Nicomachean Ethics of Aristotle]]''. Oxford: Clarendon Press. {{ISBN|0-19-824554-8}}
* Kenny, A. (1978) ''[[iarchive:freewillresponsi0000anth|Freewill and Responsibility]]''. London: Routledge. {{ISBN|0-7100-8998-8}}
* Kenny, A. (1979) ''The God of the Philosophers''. Oxford: OUP. {{ISBN|0-19-824594-7}}
* Kenny, A. (1980) ''Aquinas,'' Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-19-287501-3}}<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Owens |first=Joseph |date=June 1984 |title=AquinasAnthony Kenny "Past Masters" Series New York: Hill and Wang, 1980. Pp. 86. $2.95 paper |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/dialogue-canadian-philosophical-review-revue-canadienne-de-philosophie/article/abs/aquinasanthony-kenny-past-masters-series-new-york-hill-and-wang-1980-pp-86-295-paper/313E03D680DA330C35C59A607E86CE8C |journal=Dialogue: Canadian Philosophical Review / Revue canadienne de philosophie |language=en |volume=23 |issue=2 |pages=352–353 |doi=10.1017/S0012217300045017 |issn=1759-0949|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
* Kenny, A. (1982) ''The Computation of Style: An Introduction to Statistics for Students of Literature and Humanities''. Oxford & New York: Pergamon Press. {{ISBN|0-08-024282-0}}
* Kenny, A. (1983) ''[[iarchive:thomasmore00anth|Thomas More]]'' Oxford: Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-287574-4}}
* Kenny, A. (1983) ''[[iarchive:faithreason0000kenn|Faith and Reason]]''. New York: Columbia University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-231-05488-1}}
* Kenny, A''.'' (1984) ''[[iarchive:legacyofwittgens0000kenn|The Legacy of Wittgenstein]]'' Oxford; New York: Blackwell. {{ISBN|978-0-631-13705-4}} <ref>{{Cite news |last=Stroud |first=Barry |author-link=Barry Stroud |date=1985-07-18 |title=An End to Anxiety |language=en |volume=07 |work=[[London Review of Books]] |issue=13 |url=https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v07/n13/barry-stroud/an-end-to-anxiety |access-date=2023-12-13 |issn=0260-9592}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Long |first1=Peter |last2=Kenny |first2=Anthony |date=April 1986 |title=The Legacy of Wittgenstein. |journal=The Philosophical Quarterly |volume=36 |issue=143 |pages=306 |doi=10.2307/2219779|jstor=2219779 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
* Kenny, A. (1986) ''A Path from Rome: An Autobiography''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-283050-3}}
* Kenny, A. (1986) ''A Stylometric Study of the New Testament''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-19-826178-0}}
* Kenny, A. (1987) ''[[iarchive:heritageofwisdom0000kenn|The heritage of wisdom : essays in the history of philosophy]]'' {{ISBN|978-0631152699}}
* Kenny, A. (1987) ''Reason and Religion: Essays in Philosophical Theology''. Oxford: Blackwell. {{ISBN|0-631-15268-7}}<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Burrell |first=David |author-link=David Burrell |date=1989 |title=Review of Reason and Religion: Essays in Philosophical Theology |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1204054 |journal=The Journal of Religion |volume=69 |issue=4 |pages=570–571 |issn=0022-4189 |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Helm |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Helm |date=1988 |title=Review of Reason and Religion: Essays in Philosophical Theology |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20019312 |journal=Religious Studies |volume=24 |issue=4 |pages=538–539 |issn=0034-4125 |url-access=registration}}</ref>
* Kenny, A. (1988) ''God and Two Poets: Arthur Hugh Clough and Gerard Manley Hopkins''. London: Sidgwick & Jackson. {{ISBN|0-283-99387-1}}
* Kenny, A. (1989) ''The Metaphysics of Mind''
* (ed.) Kenny, A. (1990) ''The Oxford Diaries of Arthur Hugh Clough''
* Kenny, A. (comp) (1991) ''Mountains: An Anthology''. London: John Murray. {{ISBN|978-0-7195-4639-6}}
* Kenny, A. (1992) ''[[iarchive:whatisfaithessay0000kenn|What Is Faith? Essays in the Philosophy of Religion]]''. Oxford: OUP. {{ISBN|0-19-283067-8}}
* Kenny, A. (1993) ''[[iarchive:aristotleonperfe0000kenn|Aristotle on the Perfect Life]]''. Oxford: Clarendon Press. {{ISBN|0-19-824017-1}}
* Kenny, A. (1993) ''Aquinas on Mind''. New York: Routledge. {{ISBN|0-415-04415-4}}<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Haldane |first=John |author-link=John Haldane (philosopher) |date=April 1994 |title=Aquinas on Mind By Anthony Kenny London:Routledge, 1993, viii+182pp., £30.00 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0031819100046908/type/journal_article |journal=Philosophy |language=en |volume=69 |issue=268 |pages=242–244 |doi=10.1017/S0031819100046908 |issn=0031-8191|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
* Kenny, A. (ed) (1994) ''[[iarchive:oxfordhistoryofw00kenn|The Oxford History of Western Philosophy]]''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-824278-6}}
* Kenny, A. (1995) ''Frege: An Introduction to the Founder of Modern Analytic Philosophy''. London: Penguin Philosophy. {{ISBN|0-14-012550-7}}
* Kenny, A. (1997) ''A Brief History of Western Philosophy''. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell. {{ISBN|0-631-20132-7}}
* Kenny, A. (1997) ''A Life in Oxford''. London: John Murray. {{ISBN|0-7195-5061-0}}
* Kenny, A. (2001) ''Essays on the Aristotelian Tradition''
* Kenny, A. (2002) ''Aquinas on Being''. Oxford: Clarendon Press. {{ISBN|0-19-823847-9}}
* Kenny, A. (2004) ''[[iarchive:ancientphilosoph0000kenn|Ancient Philosophy: A New History of Western Philosophy, vol. 1]]''. Oxford: Clarendon Press. {{ISBN|0-19-875273-3}}
* Kenny, A. (2005) ''Arthur Hugh Clough: a poet's life''. London & New York: Continuum. {{ISBN|0-8264-7382-2}}
* Kenny, A. (2005) ''[[iarchive:kenny-anthony-a-new-history-of-western-philosophy-volume-2-medieval-philosophy|Medieval Philosophy: A New History of Western Philosophy, vol. 2]]'' OUP. {{ISBN|978-0-19-875275-2}}
* Kenny, A. (2005) ''The Unknown God: Agnostic Essays'' Continuum. {{ISBN|978-0-8264-7634-0}}
* Kenny, A. (2006) ''What I Believe''. London & New York: Continuum. {{ISBN|0-8264-8971-0}}
* Kenny, A. (2006) ''[[iarchive:kenny-anthony-the-rise-of-modern-philosophy-3|The Rise of Modern Philosophy: A New History of Western Philosophy, vol. 3]]'' OUP. {{ISBN|978-0-19-875277-6}}
* Kenny, A. & Kenny C. (2006) ''Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Utility''. Imprint Academic. {{ISBN|978-1-84540-052-1}}
* Kenny, A. (2007) ''Philosophy in the Modern World: A New History of Western Philosophy, vol. 4''. OUP. {{ISBN|978-0-19-875279-0}}
* Kenny, A. & Kenny R. (2007) ''[[iarchive:canoxfordbeimpro0000kenn|Can Oxford be Improved?]]'' Imprint Academic. {{ISBN|978-1-84540-094-1}}
* Kenny, A. (2010) ''[[A New History of Western Philosophy]]'', Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-19-958988-3}}
* Kenny, A. (2017) ''The Enlightenment: A Very Brief History'', SPCK, London {{ISBN|978-0-28-1076437-}}
* Kenny, A. (2018) ''Brief Encounters: Notes from a Philosophers Diary'', SPCK, London {{ISBN|978-0-281-07919-3}}
* Kenny, A. (2019) ''Immanuel Kant: A Very Brief History'', SPCK, London {{ISBN|978-0281076543}}

==Notes and references==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060622190115/http://www.sas.ac.uk/kenny.html School of Advanced Study, University of London]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20200907041232/http://www.greenbay.co.uk/books/why.html About the satirical magazine ''Why?''] (archived by [[Wayback Machine]])

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
* ''[[Philosophy Bites]]'' Interviews with Anthony Kenny [https://philosophybites.com/podcast/anthony-kenny-on-his-new-history-of-philosophy/ on his ''History of Philosophy''] and [https://philosophybites.com/podcast/anthony-kenny-on-aquinas-ethics/ Aquinas' Ethics]
* [https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2018/14-december/features/interviews/interview-anthony-kenny-philosopher ''Interview: Anthony Kenny, philosopher''] short piece in [[Church Times|''The Church Times'']] from December 2018.
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpublMuRUAk "Medieval Philosophy"] - Kenny in discussion with [[Bryan Magee]] for ''[[The Great Philosophers]]'' (1987)

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{{succession box|title=[[Balliol College, Oxford|Master of Balliol College, Oxford]]|years = 1978–1989|before=[[Christopher Hill (historian)|Christopher Hill]]|after=[[Baruch Samuel Blumberg]]}}
{{succession box
| title  = [[Rhodes House|Warden of Rhodes House, Oxford]]
| years  = 1989–1999
| before = [[Robin Fletcher]]
| after  = [[John Rowett]]
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{{Wardens of Rhodes House, Oxford}}
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