John Passmore

Who was John Passmore?

John Passmore AC was an Australian philosopher.

Passmore was born in Manly, Sydney. He was educated at Sydney Boys High School and subsequently graduated from the University of Sydney with first-class honours in English literature and philosophy, and continued this studies to become a secondary-school teacher. In 1934 he accepted the position of assistant lecturer in philosophy at the University of Sydney, continuing teaching there until 1949. In 1948 he went to study at the University of London.

From 1950 to 1955 he was professor of philosophy at the University of Otago in New Zealand. In 1955 he spent a year at the University of Oxford on a Carnegie grant. Upon his return to Australia he took up a post at the Institute of Advanced Studies at the Australian National University, where he was professor of Philosophy in the Research School of Social Sciences from 1958 to 1979.

In 1960 he was Ziskind visiting professor at Brandeis University in the United States. He subsequently lectured in England, the United States, Mexico, Japan, and in various European countries.