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Biography

Peter Hacker Bib pic

Peter Hacker was born in London in 1939. He read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at The Queen's College, Oxford from 1960-63, obtaining a Congratulatory First Class degree. He was elected to a graduate studentship at St Antony's College, Oxford, where he remained from 1963-65, writing a doctoral dissertation under the supervision of H. L. A. Hart on the subject of 'Rules and Duties'. In 1965 he was elected to a Junior Research Fellowship at Balliol College. In 1966 he completed his doctorate and was granted the D.Phil.

He was elected to a Tutorial Fellowship at St John's College in 1966 a post he held until his retirement in 2006, when he was appointed to an Emeritus Research Fellowship at St John's from 2006-2015. He was College Librarian 1986-2006, and Keeper of the College Pictures 1986-1998 In 2010 he was elected to an Honorary Fellowship at The Queen's College, Oxford.

He was a visiting lecturer at Makere College, Uganda (1968) , a visiting professor at Swarthmore College, Pa., U.S.A (1973) and again in 1986, a visiting professor at University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, U.S.A. (1974), a Milton C. Scott Visiting Professor, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario (1984).  He was elected to a British Academy Research Readership in Humanities 1985-7.  He was elected to a Leverhulme Senior Research Fellowship (1991-4). From 1992 to 2010 he served as a member of the Rothschild Fellowships Academic Committee, Yad Hanadiv, Jerusalem. He was a visiting fellow at the Rockefeller Foundation at Bellagio, Italy in 2006. He was a visiting research fellow at the University of Bologna for a semester in 2009.  In 2013 he was appointed part time Professor of philosophy at the University of Kent at Canterbury for three years. He has been elected to an honorary professorship at University College, London in the UCL Institute of Neurology for the period 2019-24.

Curriculum Vitae

Born: 15/7/39

Widower with 3 children

Education

1960-63 The Queen's College, Oxford. P.P.E. - congratulatory First Class Honours

1963-65 Senior Scholar, St. Antony's College, Oxford, reading for a D.Phil. under Prof. H.L.A. Hart

1965-66 Junior Research Fellow, Balliol College, Oxford

1966 Completed D.Phil. ('Rules and Duties') and awarded the degree

Academic posts

1966-2006 Tutorial Fellow in Philosophy, St. John's College, Oxford

1968 Visiting lecturer, Makere College, Uganda (summer semester)

1973 Visiting professor, Swarthmore College, Pa., U.S.A.

1974 Visiting professor, University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, U.S.A.

1985 Milton C. Scott Visiting Professor, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario 

1985-7 Research Readership in Humanities, elected by the British Academy

1986 Visiting professor (for half a semester), Swarthmore College, Pa., U.S.A.

1991-4 Leverhulme Senior Research fellowship

2006-2015 Emeritus Research Fellow, St John’s College, Oxford

2006 Visiting fellowship at the Rockefeller Foundation at Bellagio, Italy

2009 Visiting research fellowship, University of Bologna

2013-16 Professor of Philosophy, University of Kent at Canterbury

2015- Emeritus Fellow, St John’s College, Oxford

2019-24 Honorary Professorship at University College, London in UCL Institute of Neurology

Academic-related post and activities

1975-6

Vice-President and Acting President of St John's College during the President's leave of absence MT and HT 1975-6.

1986-2006

Librarian, St John's College; initiated and organised the restoration and conservation of the whole of the College's collection of manuscripts and pre1800 books; supervised the electronic cataloguing of all pre-1800 books; supervised the conversion of the Library catalogue to electronic form; supervised the restoration of the Library stained glass; initiated and supervised the rota of ten exhibitions of Library treasures.

1986-98

Keeper of the College Pictures, St John's College; initiated and organised the conservation, restoration and, where necessary, reframing of the whole of the College's collection of paintings and works of art on paper; purchased some 20 oil paintings and numerous prints funded by College bequests for that purpose.

1988

Organised exhibition of S. W. Hayter at the Ashmolean Museum, at the request of the Museum, and edited the Catalogue, published by OUP.

1990

Assisted in the organisation of an exhibition of John Buckland Wright at the Ashmolean Museum at the request of the Museum, and contributed to the Catalogue, published by the Scolar Press.

1992-2010

Member of the Rothschild Fellowships Academic Committee, Jerusalem.

1993

Organised exhibition of Roger Vieillard at the Ashmolean Museum at the request of the Museum, and edited the Catalogue, published by the Ashmolean Museum and Scolar Press.

Editorial appointments

1993-2015 Associate editor — Philosophical Investigations

 

1994 Associate editor — Wittgenstein Studies

1997-2003 Associate editor, 20th century philosophers — Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

1998- 2003 Trustee of the Wittgenstein papers and member of the Committee of Editors

2003 Member and Secretary of the Advisory Committee of Wittgenstein Editors

2009 Honorary member of the International Wittgenstein Society

Honours

2010 Honorary Fellow of The Queen’s College, Oxford

 

2019-24 Honorary Professor of University College, London in UCL Institute of Neurology

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