11 Facts About Stuart Hampshire

Sir Stuart Newton Hampshire was an English philosopher, literary critic and university administrator.

Stuart Hampshire was one of the antirationalist Oxford thinkers who gave a new direction to moral and political thought in the post-World War II era.

Stuart Hampshire was educated at Lockers Park School in Hertfordshire, Repton School and Balliol College, Oxford, where he matriculated as a history scholar.

Stuart Hampshire did not confine himself to history, switching instead to the study of Greats and immersing himself in the study of painting and literature.

In 1962 Stuart Hampshire was asked by the UK Treasury to conduct a review of GCHQ, covering technical, political, economic and strategic factors over the next ten years, including the relationship with the US National Security Agency through the UKUSA relationship.

The 'Stuart Hampshire Report' set direction and funding for GCHQ for the future and put its relationship with the NSA at the centre of its growth.

Stuart Hampshire insisted that philosophy of mind "has been distorted by philosophers when they think of persons only as passive observers and not as self-willed agents".

Stuart Hampshire considered his wardenship to be one of his most significant achievements in reviving the fortunes of the college.

Stuart Hampshire was knighted in 1979 and retired from Wadham in 1984, when he accepted a professorship at Stanford University.

Stuart Hampshire wrote extensively on literature and other topics for The Times Literary Supplement and The New York Review of Books amongst others.

Stuart Hampshire was head of the literary panel of the Arts Council for many years.