John Haldane

John Joseph Haldane (born 19 February 1954) is a British philosopher, commentator and broadcaster.

He is a former papal adviser to the Vatican.

He is credited with coining the term 'analytical Thomism' and is himself a Thomist in the analytic tradition.

Haldane is associated with The Veritas Forum and is the current chair of the Royal Institute of Philosophy.

Haldane attended Hamilton Park School, John Ogilvie Hall Preparatory School and St Aloysius' College, Glasgow.

Later he studied at the Kent Institute of Art & Design (now the University for the Creative Arts) in Rochester, Kent, and the Wimbledon School of Art (now Wimbledon College of Arts, University of the Arts London) for a BA in fine art in 1975.

He received a BA in philosophy from Birkbeck College of the University of London in 1980; a PGCE from the London University Institute of Education in 1976; and a PhD in philosophy from Birkbeck College in 1984.

He holds honorary degrees from Saint Anselm College, New Hampshire, United States, from the University of Glasgow, Scotland, and from University of Notre Dame Australia.

In 1980 he was married to his wife Hilda at Westminster Cathedral.

He was appointed to the University of St Andrews in 1983 where he held a lectureship and a readership.

They have four children; Kirsty (b. 1988), James (b. 1990), Alice (b. 1992) and John (b. 1994).

He has been a visiting lecturer in the School of Architecture of the University of Westminster, at the Medical School of the University of Dundee, at the University of Malta, at the Thomistic Institute at the University of Notre Dame, at the University of Aberdeen, at Denison University, at the University of St. Thomas, at The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, and the Institute for the Psychological Sciences.

From 1988 to 2000 and from 2002 to the present he has been Director of the University Centre for Ethics, Philosophy and Public Affairs.

In addition, he has held fellowships at the University of Pittsburgh, University of Edinburgh, St John's College, Oxford, Social Philosophy and Policy Center, Bowling Green State University and at the Centre for the Study of Sculpture in Leeds, West Yorkshire.

He was subsequently University Professor in Philosophy from 1994 to 2015.

He was named one of Scotland's "Brights" in a list of the 50 top Scottish intellectuals, artists, lawyers, scientists, etc. (Herald Magazine, 2001).

Haldane spent his childhood in Glasgow, and subsequently studied in Rochester and London.

He held the Royden Davis Chair of Humanities at Georgetown University, and delivered the Gifford Lectures at the University of Aberdeen in 2003–04, and the Joseph Lectures at the Gregorian University in Rome.

Since 2015, he has held the J. Newton Rayzor Sr. Distinguished Chair in Philosophy at Baylor University.

Haldane has simultaneously pursued a career in the cultural sphere.

He is a regular contributor to renowned publications including The Burlington Magazine, Modern Painters, Tate and Art Monthly.

The majority of Haldane's television work is for the BBC, including The Big Questions on nuclear armament.

He has contributed to a number of programmes including The Heart of the Matter: God Under the Microscope, Newsnight, and Twenty Four Hours.

He has also produced work for ITV and PBS.

In addition to his former position as a regularly contributing columnist, Haldane has offered opinions and contributed articles to periodicals including The Times, Daily Telegraph, The Scotsman, New Statesman, The Herald, Sunday Herald, Mail on Sunday, Daily Mail, Daily Express, Contemporary Review and Economist Information Strategy.

Haldane's radio work includes contributions to the following stations: