Alan Montefiore (PPE 1948, Herbert Samuel Fellow, Jowett Lecturer and Tutor in Philosophy 1961-1994, Emeritus Fellow 1994-2024), who died in France in October 2024 at the age of 97, was described as 'the life and soul of Balliol PPE’.   

Alan was innovative in his approach to Kant's philosophy, his attention to politics and economics as well as philosophy in tutorials, his pioneering commitment to breaking down barriers between contemporary British and European philosophy, and his explorations of the ethical commitments of the intellectual, of relations between religion and philosophy, and between science and philosophy.   

Together with Alan's family, Balliol has launched the Alan Montefiore Fund. The fund will provide grants of up to £5,000 to Balliol students and early career fellows working in fields linked to Alan's main philosophical interests, including continental philosophy, neutrality and objectivity, causality, intellectual responsibility and any philosophy that goes beyond normal disciplinary boundaries.  

Beneficiaries will use the grants for study, research, writing up, and for travel, especially to France where Alan had extensive contacts in the philosophical circles.   

Please join us in supporting the Alan Montefiore Fund today and enable future generations of Balliol philosophers to take forward Alan’s intellectual legacy.