The present-day Faculty was formerly a sub-faculty of the Faculty of
Literae Humaniores (founded in 1913), though the teaching of philosophy at Oxford dates back to medieval times. The Faculty boasts over 50 full-time philosophers in permanent posts, with at least another 50 fixed-term, emeritus and associate members. Today, it is housed within Oxford's
Humanities Division. Some of the world's most prominent philosophers have studied (and taught) at Oxford, including
Duns Scotus,
Thomas Bradwardine,
Robert Grosseteste,
William of Ockham,
John Wycliffe,
Thomas Hobbes,
John Locke,
John Norris,
Jeremy Bentham,
Henry Longueville Mansel,
Thomas Hill Green,
F. H. Bradley,
Edward Caird, and in more recent times
Elizabeth Anscombe,
J. L. Austin,
A. J. Ayer,
Isaiah Berlin,
Michael Dummett,
Philippa Foot,
Celia Green,
Genevieve Lloyd,
Mary Midgley,
Iris Murdoch,
Thomas Nagel,
Onora O'Neill,
Derek Parfit,
Gilbert Ryle,
Michael A. Smith,
Paul Snowdon,
Galen Strawson,
Peter Strawson, and
Bernard Williams. Such eminent philosophers as
Noam Chomsky,
Daniel Dennett,
Christine Korsgaard,
Saul Kripke,
Hilary Putnam,
Wilfrid Sellars,
Amartya Sen, and many others have come to Oxford to deliver the
John Locke Lectures, the Gareth Evans Memorial Lectures and other established lectures and lecture series. The Faculty has the following statutory professorships in philosophy: • The
White's Professorship of Moral Philosophy (founded in 1621) • The
Waynflete Professorship of Metaphysical Philosophy (founded in 1859) • The
Wykeham Professorship of Logic (founded in 1859) • The
Nolloth Professorship of the Philosophy of the Christian Religion (founded in 1920) • The Professorship of Ancient Philosophy (founded in 1966) • The
Wilde Professorship of Mental Philosophy (founded in 2000); formerly the Wilde Readership in Mental Philosophy (founded in 1898) • The Uehiro Professorship of Practical Ethics (founded in 2003). ==Henry Wilde Prize==