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    The McMaster Department of Philosophy has now put together the following notice commemorating Barry: Barry Allen: A Philosophical Life Barry…

In Memoriam: William Newton-Smith (1943-2023)

Brian Leiter

MOVING TO FRONT FROM APRIL 14–SOME VERY NICE AND EVOCATIVE REMEMBRANCES, MORE WELCOME

Well-known for his work in philosophy of science, Dr. Newton-Smith spent almost his entire career at Balliol College, Oxford, from which he also earned his D.Phil.  He also briefly served as one of the founders of the Central European University.  (The CEU memorial notice is here, and there is a brief notice form Balliol here.)  Comments are open for remembrances from those who know Dr. Newton-Smith, or who wish to comment on the significance of his work.  Links to additional memorial notices are also welcome.

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9 responses to “In Memoriam: William Newton-Smith (1943-2023)”

  1. Ian Rumfitt

    Bill was a marvellous tutor: exacting but always encouraging. We Balliolenses were very fortunate indeed to be taught by him.

    His role in the foundation of the CEU was crucial. Among the academics around George Soros in the late 1980s, only he had experience of helping to run a top-flight university (he had been Senior Proctor of Oxford from 1984 to 1985). That the CEU maintains high standards of teaching and research is an important part of his legacy.

    While it is true that Bill chaired the executive committee of the embryonic CEU only from 1991 to 1993, he had (as its memorial notice acknowledges) done a great deal of the groundwork for the new university for at least two years before that. That work took its toll. (I write as his junior colleague and neighbour between 1989 and 1992.) It was done over and above his teaching commitments and his additional duties as Praefectus of Holywell Manor (in effect, Dean of Balliol's graduate school).

    Requiescat.

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  2. Samir Okasha

    I did my DPhil (=PhD) under Bill at Oxford from 1995-1998.
    He was a wonderfully supportive supervisor, generous with his time, funny and unpretentious, and always looked out for his students.

    I recall in particular the evening talks that Bill organized at Holywell Manor, given by visiting philosophers of science, and usually preceded by a dinner to which undergraduate and graduate students as well as faculty were invited. These were congenial events, run in an egalitarian spirit.

    It was my impression that Bill considered himself something of an outsider at Oxford, despite having spent almost his whole career there. As someone who found certain aspects of Oxford difficult to relate to, I was grateful for Bill's support and advice.

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  3. Mohan Matthen

    I don't think I ever met him, but I used his Rationality of Science several times while teaching Philosophy of Science to undergraduates. Teaching-texts are books you read again and again, and in the mid- to late-eighties, I came to imagine Newton-Smith's "voice" inside my head. I feel as if a valued professional colleague has passed away.

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  4. Mark Glouberman

    I 'hung' with Bill (and with Doris) at Oxford in the early '70s. I'm attaching a remembrance written by a mutual friend of ours. (I'll suppress the identity of the unintentional obituarist.) The words, in the tinged sepia tones of bygone times, capture the spirit of the gentle man.

    I was struck by the mention in one of the obits of Newton-Smith’s unpretentiousness. That was certainly true. I met him for the last time in the late 80s at a crowded and quite posh party in Toronto. I only got to speak to him for a couple of minutes but he was the same as ever. His warmth and friendliness and humor were completely intact after all those years. I remember him saying that when he accepted George Soros’ invitation to go to set something up in Moldova he had no idea where Moldova was. He was amused by his own ignorance of geography. I also remember visiting him in Cape Breton when I was at Dalhousie. He was very friendly and kind — and ordinary. He and Doris took me in the middle of a rainstorm to a more or less abandoned mining town (New Glasgow?), the grimmest saddest place I’ve ever seen. Looking back, I feel that he was teaching me something by taking me there. I saw no mention in the obits of his reign on the houseboat (as the “head of cabbage”?). Too bad. In my memory my visits there are my one encounter with genuine glamor. (Did I really dance with a Danish girl on the roof of the boat on a sunny afternoon? I hope so.)

    I’ve had to live a long time to appreciate how rare and precious are the qualities he had.

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  5. John Greenwood

    I used to attend Bill Newton-Smith’s lectures on the philosophy of science at Balliol in the late 1970s with my DPhil advisor Rom Harré, which I believe were the foundation of his classic monograph on The Rationality of Science. Bill was the internal and Mary Hesse the external examiner for my viva voce examination, which was memorable in a number of ways. First, for their rigorous two hours of critical engagement with my account of explanation and experiment in the natural and human sciences, from which I learned a lot. Second, for my huge embarrassment when they asked me to leave the senior common room at Balliol while they discussed my defense. Confident that I had passed, I rose with pride from the couch on which I had sat hunched at attention in full academic regalia for the past few hours. All a sudden, I realized that both my legs had gone to sleep, just before I collapsed in an ignominious black gowned heap like the wicked witch in the Wizard of Oz. Declining their help, I managed to pull myself back onto the couch and scrambled along the wall to the exit, all the while assuring them that I was perfectly fine. Straight out of Monty Python. Circulation returned in time for me to return with head held high after Bill came to invite me back into the room, and they announced that I had passed. When I mentioned the bit about the wicked witch, we all fell about laughing. Both had very helpful recommendations about what parts of the thesis they thought I should try to publish, and Bill called me about a year later to make sure I had followed through on his advice to try to publish my chapter on experimentation in social psychology. I was pleased to tell him it had already been accepted for publication, and grateful for his continued interest in my work. Fond memories of that day.

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  6. Phil Gasper

    Sorry to hear the news. I met him in 1981 when he came to speak at the University of Calgary, just after The Rationality of Science had been published. I was already a scientific realist, but his book helped me think through a number of issues and had a big influence on my subsequent philosophical trajectory. He was one of those visiting speakers who was completely approachable and happy to spend time answering the enthusiastic questions of a young graduate student.

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  7. Anand Pillay

    I am also very sorry to hear this news.
    Bill was my tutor in philosophy ad logic at Balliol, 1970 – 73.
    I really enjoyed our meetings and the glass of sherry now and then.
    Unfortunately I did not maintain contact with him after leaving Oxford and is interesting to see about his activities
    in Eastern Europe…

    Reply
  8. Mathias Aspelin

    Bill Newton-Smith was my tutor in the philosophy of science at Balliol some twenty years ago. I am most grateful to him for igniting an enduring passion for the subject and deeply admire his work in Central and Eastern Europe, both before and after the fall of the Iron Curtain.
    Some would say that an intellectual is someone who not only holds noteworthy ideas but also lives by them, and I thought the last line of the obituary in The Globe and Mail gave elegant expression to this aspect of his life: ‘Donations may be made to Black Mountains College. Otherwise, pursue truth.’

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  9. Liz Irvine

    Bill taught me first year logic and then philosophy of science at Balliol around 20 years ago. He and his wife had all the maths & philosophy students round to his house for dinner, where we had (I think) mushroom risotto, made with mushrooms he'd picked himself from Hungary a few days earlier. After dinner we watched the foxes play in his back garden. After casually mentioning that I should think about applying to do a PhD in philosophy of science at Pittsburgh, I did – I'm really not sure what I would've done if he hadn't encouraged me to stick around in academia.

    As students, we didn't really know much about Bill's involvement in eastern europe and the CEU, apart from that it was dangerous and he was a very cool guy, and that apparently one could be a philosopher at Oxford and a hugely effective activist at the same time (trickier these days). He was approaching retirement from Balliol when I knew him, and took a great deal of pleasure wearing three piece suits in loud plaid, with plus fours instead of trousers, with a flat cap and brogues, though (as is mentioned above) I think he saw himself as an outsider to Oxford, so this may have been ironic…Bill was a great person and a great teacher, and I wasn't that surprised to see his name associated with the new Black Mountains College.

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