Kathy Wilkes
Encyclopedia
Kathleen Vaughan Wilkes (June 23, 1946 – August 21, 2003) was an English philosopher and academic who played an important part in rebuilding the education systems of former Communist
countries after 1990. She established her reputation as an academic with her contributions to the philosophy of mind
in two major works and many articles in professional journals. As a conscientious college tutor, she won the respect and affection of her students and academic colleagues. Her most notable contribution lay in her clandestine activities behind the Iron Curtain
, which led to the establishment of underground universities and academic networks in Soviet-controlled Eastern Europe. For her work in support of this network President Vaclav Havel
awarded her the Commemorative Medal of the President of the Czech Republic in October 1998.
who had been a master at Eton
and Warden of Radley College
before entering holy orders, and was for many years vicar of Marlow
. Her paternal grandparents had founded and run St Cyprian's School
, Eastbourne
, while her grandfather on her mother's side (the Very Rev Cyril Alington
) had been Headmaster of Eton, Dean of Durham and author of many famous hymns. She was educated at Wycombe Abbey
and St Hugh's College, Oxford
, where she achieved a double First, and a Doctorate of Philosophy. Her achievement was all the greater in light of the excruciating pain she was suffering from as a result of a teenage riding accident. She spent a period at Princeton University
, where she studied with Thomas Nagel
, Richard Rorty
and others, and then lived the life of an Oxbridge don. After a time at King's College, Cambridge
, she became a fellow of St Hilda's College, Oxford
, in 1973, and was a lecturer in philosophy in the University of Oxford for the rest of her career.
systems of eastern Europe. In 1979 she was the first of Oxford university's philosophers to respond to an invitation from the dissident philosophical community in Prague
to conduct secret seminars there. She showed extraordinary courage in conducting secret meetings in crowded flats with groups of philosophers. Despite her large frame and ungainly walk, she would lead the secret policemen who followed her on wild goose chases through Slavic cities, unconcerned by their harassment. She made the difficult and risky trip many times, smuggling in banned books and taking out samizdat
manuscripts. With her western friends, she created the Jan Hus Foundation, which was to become a major source of support for the dissident community. She encouraged and financially supported dissident intellectuals, finally bringing the Czech philosopher Julius Tomin
and family to England. Having lost her Czech visa, she achieved this by returning to Prague with a new passport in her full name "Vaughan-Wilkes" in order to confuse the authorities. Having never driven there before, she drove the family precariously in a heavily overladen Zhiguli
to the west knowing that the slightest traffic infringement would bring down the law. Back in England she arranged housing and paid for the children’s education.
in 1986. Concerned at the lack of voice for philosophers in the east who were interested in the analytic approach, with Bill Newton-Smith
as her co-editor, she created a journal known initially as the Dubrovnik Papers, and now flourishing as International Studies in the Philosophy of Science. She paid for a young Croatian psychologist’s education at Oxford, maintaining throughout that the fees were being met by a fictitious ‘Alington trust’. During the siege of Dubrovnik
by the JNA
in 1991-1992 during the Croatian war of independence
, she refused to leave, seeing it her duty to give comfort and support to the sufferers and to inform the world of the City's distress.
Following the collapse of their political regimes, especially that of the former Yugoslavia
, she worked to try to restore their academic standards, spending time in Croatia
, where she was honoured with a doctorate from the University of Zagreb
.
Kathy Wilkes was specifically referenced by her colleague Roger Scruton
who took her as his model of the English gentleman, arguing that "her virtues were revealed in nothing so much, as her habit of concealing them". She appeared in the Channel 4
documentary series College Girls
, broadcast in 2002 about some St Hilda's students.
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
countries after 1990. She established her reputation as an academic with her contributions to the philosophy of mind
Philosophy of mind
Philosophy of mind is a branch of philosophy that studies the nature of the mind, mental events, mental functions, mental properties, consciousness and their relationship to the physical body, particularly the brain. The mind-body problem, i.e...
in two major works and many articles in professional journals. As a conscientious college tutor, she won the respect and affection of her students and academic colleagues. Her most notable contribution lay in her clandestine activities behind the Iron Curtain
Iron Curtain
The concept of the Iron Curtain symbolized the ideological fighting and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1989...
, which led to the establishment of underground universities and academic networks in Soviet-controlled Eastern Europe. For her work in support of this network President Vaclav Havel
Václav Havel
Václav Havel is a Czech playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and politician. He was the tenth and last President of Czechoslovakia and the first President of the Czech Republic . He has written over twenty plays and numerous non-fiction works, translated internationally...
awarded her the Commemorative Medal of the President of the Czech Republic in October 1998.
Early life and academic career
Wilkes, who was known as Kathy, was the daughter of Rev. J C Vaughan WilkesJohn Vaughan Wilkes
John Comyn Vaughan Wilkes was an English educationalist, who was Warden of Radley College and an Anglican priest....
who had been a master at Eton
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
and Warden of Radley College
Radley College
Radley College , founded in 1847, is a British independent school for boys on the edge of the English village of Radley, near to the market town of Abingdon in Oxfordshire, and has become a well-established boarding school...
before entering holy orders, and was for many years vicar of Marlow
Marlow, Buckinghamshire
Marlow is a town and civil parish within Wycombe district in south Buckinghamshire, England...
. Her paternal grandparents had founded and run St Cyprian's School
St Cyprian's School
St Cyprian's School was an English preparatory school for boys, which operated in the early 20th century in Eastbourne, East Sussex. Like other preparatory schools, its purpose was to train pupils to do well enough in the examinations to gain admission to leading public schools, and to provide an...
, Eastbourne
Eastbourne
Eastbourne is a large town and borough in East Sussex, on the south coast of England between Brighton and Hastings. The town is situated at the eastern end of the chalk South Downs alongside the high cliff at Beachy Head...
, while her grandfather on her mother's side (the Very Rev Cyril Alington
Cyril Alington
Cyril Argentine Alington was an English educationalist, scholar, cleric, and prolific author. He was the headmaster of both Shrewsbury School and Eton College. He also served as chaplain to King George V and as Dean of Durham....
) had been Headmaster of Eton, Dean of Durham and author of many famous hymns. She was educated at Wycombe Abbey
Wycombe Abbey
Wycombe Abbey is an independent girls' boarding school situated in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. It is academically one of the top schools in the United Kingdom, and the top girls' boarding school...
and St Hugh's College, Oxford
St Hugh's College, Oxford
St Hugh's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. It is located on a fourteen and a half acre site on St Margaret's Road, to the North of the city centre. It was founded in 1886 as a women's college, and accepted its first male students in its centenary year in 1986...
, where she achieved a double First, and a Doctorate of Philosophy. Her achievement was all the greater in light of the excruciating pain she was suffering from as a result of a teenage riding accident. She spent a period at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, where she studied with Thomas Nagel
Thomas Nagel
Thomas Nagel is an American philosopher, currently University Professor of Philosophy and Law at New York University, where he has taught since 1980. His main areas of philosophical interest are philosophy of mind, political philosophy and ethics...
, Richard Rorty
Richard Rorty
Richard McKay Rorty was an American philosopher. He had a long and diverse academic career, including positions as Stuart Professor of Philosophy at Princeton, Kenan Professor of Humanities at the University of Virginia, and Professor of Comparative Literature at Stanford University...
and others, and then lived the life of an Oxbridge don. After a time at King's College, Cambridge
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college's full name is "The King's College of our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge", but it is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the University....
, she became a fellow of St Hilda's College, Oxford
St Hilda's College, Oxford
St Hilda's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England.The college was founded in 1893 as a hall for women, and remained an all-women's college until 2006....
, in 1973, and was a lecturer in philosophy in the University of Oxford for the rest of her career.
Work in Soviet-controlled Eastern Europe
During her time at Oxford, she worked, often in secret, for the educationEducation
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
systems of eastern Europe. In 1979 she was the first of Oxford university's philosophers to respond to an invitation from the dissident philosophical community in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
to conduct secret seminars there. She showed extraordinary courage in conducting secret meetings in crowded flats with groups of philosophers. Despite her large frame and ungainly walk, she would lead the secret policemen who followed her on wild goose chases through Slavic cities, unconcerned by their harassment. She made the difficult and risky trip many times, smuggling in banned books and taking out samizdat
Samizdat
Samizdat was a key form of dissident activity across the Soviet bloc in which individuals reproduced censored publications by hand and passed the documents from reader to reader...
manuscripts. With her western friends, she created the Jan Hus Foundation, which was to become a major source of support for the dissident community. She encouraged and financially supported dissident intellectuals, finally bringing the Czech philosopher Julius Tomin
Julius Tomin
Julius Tomin is a Czech philosopher. He became known in the 1970s and 1980s for his involvement with the Jan Hus Educational Foundation, which ran an underground education network in the former Czechoslovakia, offering seminars in philosophy in people's homes.Barbara Day writes that Tomin studied...
and family to England. Having lost her Czech visa, she achieved this by returning to Prague with a new passport in her full name "Vaughan-Wilkes" in order to confuse the authorities. Having never driven there before, she drove the family precariously in a heavily overladen Zhiguli
VAZ-2101
The VAZ-2101 is a compact car, sedan, produced by VAZ and introduced in 1970. VAZ had been founded in the mid-1960s as a collaboration between Fiat and the Soviet government, and the 2101 was its first product...
to the west knowing that the slightest traffic infringement would bring down the law. Back in England she arranged housing and paid for the children’s education.
Work in the former Yugoslavia
Wilkes became Chairman of the executive committee of the International University Centre in DubrovnikDubrovnik
Dubrovnik is a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea coast, positioned at the terminal end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva county. Its total population is 42,641...
in 1986. Concerned at the lack of voice for philosophers in the east who were interested in the analytic approach, with Bill Newton-Smith
William Newton-Smith
William Herbert Newton-Smith is an Anglo-Canadian philosopher of science.His undergraduate degree from Queen's University was in Mathematics and Philosophy, in 1966. He took an MA from Cornell University in Philosophy, in 1968, and a DPhil in philosophy from Balliol College, Oxford, in 1974...
as her co-editor, she created a journal known initially as the Dubrovnik Papers, and now flourishing as International Studies in the Philosophy of Science. She paid for a young Croatian psychologist’s education at Oxford, maintaining throughout that the fees were being met by a fictitious ‘Alington trust’. During the siege of Dubrovnik
Siege of Dubrovnik
The Siege of Dubrovnik is a term marking the battle and siege of the city of Dubrovnik and the surrounding area in Croatia as part of the Croatian War of Independence. Yugoslav People's Army invaded the Dubrovnik area in October 1991 from Montenegro, Bosnia and even parts of Croatia, surrounding...
by the JNA
Yugoslav People's Army
The Yugoslav People's Army , also referred to as the Yugoslav National Army , was the military of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.-Origins:The origins of the JNA can...
in 1991-1992 during the Croatian war of independence
Croatian War of Independence
The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between forces loyal to the government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia —and the Serb-controlled Yugoslav People's Army and local Serb forces, with the JNA ending its combat...
, she refused to leave, seeing it her duty to give comfort and support to the sufferers and to inform the world of the City's distress.
Following the collapse of their political regimes, especially that of the former Yugoslavia
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
, she worked to try to restore their academic standards, spending time in Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, where she was honoured with a doctorate from the University of Zagreb
University of Zagreb
The University of Zagreb is the biggest Croatian university and the oldest continuously operating university in the area covering Central Europe south of Vienna and all of Southeastern Europe...
.
Kathy Wilkes was specifically referenced by her colleague Roger Scruton
Roger Scruton
Roger Vernon Scruton is a conservative English philosopher and writer. He is the author of over 30 books, including Art and Imagination , Sexual Desire , The Aesthetics of Music , and A Political Philosophy: Arguments For Conservatism...
who took her as his model of the English gentleman, arguing that "her virtues were revealed in nothing so much, as her habit of concealing them". She appeared in the Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
documentary series College Girls
College Girls
College Girls is a Channel 4 documentary series, first transmitted in the UK from 8 September 2002. The documentary followed the lives of six students who studied at St Hilda's College, Oxford, the last remaining single-sex college at the University of Oxford, between 1998 and...
, broadcast in 2002 about some St Hilda's students.
Works
- Physicalism (1978)
- Real People (1988), Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-824080-5
- Modelling the Mind (1990) editor with W. Newton Smith