Fergus Kerr

The Reverend Fergus Kerr OP FRSE
Born	(1931-07-16)16 July 1931 Banff, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Died	23 November 2025(2025-11-23) (aged 94) Edinburgh, Scotland
Known for	His work on Ludwig Wittgenstein and Thomas Aquinas
Academic work
Institutions	Blackfriars, Oxford University of Edinburgh

Fergus Gordon Thomson Kerr OP FRSE (16 July 1931 – 23 November 2025) was a Scottish Roman Catholic priest of the English Dominican province. He published significantly on a wide range of subjects, but was famous particularly for his work on Ludwig Wittgenstein and Thomas Aquinas.

Biography

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 the University of Oxford.

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 inaugural Director of the Aquinas Institute, Blackfriars, Oxford and was the editor of New Blackfriars, the bimonthly journal of the English Dominicans (1995–2020).

At the time of his death, Kerr was affiliated with Blackfriars, Edinburgh. He held an honorary fellowship in the School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh and had a role in the university's Catholic chaplaincy team. He was also an Honorary Professor of St. Andrews University, a distinction he held since 2005. Kerr belonged to the Catholic Theological Association of Great Britain, of which he was president from 1992 to 1994.

A festschrift was prepared in Kerr's honor entitled Faithful Reading.

Kerr was awarded an Honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity by the University of Edinburgh in December 2019.

Kerr died on 23 November 2025, at the age of 94.

See also

• Cornelius Ernst

Bibliography

Books

• From Aberdeen to Oxford: Collective Essays, Dominican Scholars Collection (2023)

Book reviews

Year	Review article	Work(s) reviewed
2021