Fergus Kerr

Fergus Gordon Thomson Kerr, OP, FRSE (born 16 July 1931), a prominent scholar, widely recognized for his contributions in the areas of philosophy and theology, is a Scottish Roman Catholic priest of the English Dominican Province. He has published significantly on a wide range of subjects, but is famous particularly for his work on Ludwig Wittgenstein and Thomas Aquinas. Following his education at Banff Academy and his service in the RAF (1953–1955), Kerr entered the Order of Preachers in 1956. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1962.

Kerr studied in Aberdeen, Paris, Munich, and Oxford. He was a student of Donald M. MacKinnon, John Holloway, and Cornelius Ernst. From 1966 to 1986 he taught philosophy and theology at Oxford University.

In service to the English Dominican Province, Kerr was Prior at Blackfriars Hall, Oxford from 1969 to 1978. From 1992 to 1998 he served as Prior at Blackfriars, Edinburgh. In 1998, he returned to Blackfriars, Oxford, where he served as Regent until 2004.

Kerr served as the Director of the Aquinas Institute, Blackfriars, Oxford and is the editor of New Blackfriars, the bi-monthly journal of the English Dominicans.

Presently, Kerr is affiliated with Blackfriars, Edinburgh, where he lives and works. He holds an honorary fellowship in the School of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh (New College, Edinburgh), and is an honorary member of the CSU Lads. He is also an Honorary Professor of St. Andrews University, a distinction he has held since 2005.

Kerr belongs to the Catholic Theological Society of Great Britain, of which he was President from 1992- 1994.

Selected publications

• Theology After Wittgenstein (1986)
• Immortal Longings (1997)
• After Aquinas (2002)
• Twentieth-Century Catholic Theologians (2006)
• Contemplating Aquinas: On the Varieties of Interpretation (2007)
• "Work on Oneself": Wittgenstein's Philosophical Psychology (2008)
• Editor, New Blackfriars (1995–present)