Hugo Anthony Meynell (23 March 1936 – 1 October 2021) was an English academic and author.

Academic career

Born in

Meynell Langley Meynell Langley is a small area of settlement in Derbyshire, England. It is located between Kirk Langley and Kedleston. Meynell Langley Hall is the ancestral home of the Meynell family. In 2015 Godfrey Meynell who had been High Sheriff of Derby ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, England, half a year after the death of his father, Captain

Godfrey Meynell Godfrey Meynell VC, MC (20 May 1904 – 29 September 1935) was a British Indian Army officer and an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to Br ...

, who was awarded the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

for action against Afghan raiders in India's

Khyber Pass The Khyber Pass (خیبر درہ) is a mountain pass in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, on the border with the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan. It connects the town of Landi Kotal to the Valley of Peshawar at Jamrud by traversing pa ...

, Hugo grew up as a member of an English family which arrived in England with the

Norman conquest of England The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, Duchy of Brittany, Breton, County of Flanders, Flemish, and Kingdom of France, French troops, ...

. His mother was Sophia Patricia (but known as Jill) née Lowis. He was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

and at King's College at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, where he obtained his PhD. After completing his graduate work Dr. Meynell taught at the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

before moving to the

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...

in 1981. He wrote thirteen academic books and numerous peer reviewed articles as well as regular book reviews in the ''

Heythrop Journal ''The Heythrop Journal'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal covering the relations between philosophy and theology. The journal is published by Wiley-Blackwell and was sponsored by Heythrop College (London). With the closure of Heythro ...

'' and similar publications. He was elected a member of the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; french: Société royale du Canada, SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bil ...

in 1993, and is listed in the ''Canadian Who's Who''.

Christian Rationalism

Meynell described himself as a "Christian Rationalist" in the tradition of

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wi ...

(1225–1274) and

Bernard Lonergan Bernard Joseph Francis Lonergan (17 December 1904 – 26 November 1984) was a Canadian Jesuit priest, philosopher, and theologian, regarded by many as one of the most important thinkers of the 20th century. Lonergan's works include ''Insight: A ...

(1904–1984), on whose work he has written. His numerous books include works on

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

, and even

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

. A devout

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

convert Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series * "The Conversion" ...

, he had an

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

outlook and sympathy for British and American

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

. In his later books he expressed a strong distaste for

postmodernism Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or Rhetorical modes, mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by philosophical skepticism, skepticis ...

and what he called "academic fads". Latterly, he was engaged in a study of contemporary

atheism Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...

.Cf. ''The Heythrop Journal'', Volume 37 Issue 3, Pages 336 - 347

Books

Meynell's many publications include: *''God and the World: the Coherence of Christian Theism'',London, S.P.C.K., 1971 *''An Introduction to the Philosophy of Bernard Lonergan'', New York : Barnes & Noble Books, 1976 *''Freud, Marx, and Morals'', Totowa, N.J. : Barnes & Noble Books, 1981 *''The Intelligible Universe: A Cosmological Argument'', Totowa, N.J. : Barnes & Noble, 1982 *''The Theology of Bernard Lonergan'', Atlanta, Ga. : Scholars Press, 1986 *''The Art of Handel's Operas'', Lewiston, N.Y. : E. Mellen Press, 1986 *''Is Christianity true?'',Washington, D.C. : Catholic University of America Press, 1994 *''Redirecting philosophy: Reflections of the Nature of Knowledge from Plato to Lonergan'',Toronto; Buffalo: University of Toronto Press, 1998 *''Postmodernism and the New Enlightenment'',Washington, D.C. : Catholic University of America Press, 1999

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meynell, Hugo Anthony 1936 births 2021 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of King's College, Cambridge British expatriate academics in Canada Converts to Roman Catholicism Academics of the University of Leeds English Roman Catholics People from Amber Valley Handel scholars University of Calgary faculty