Basil Mitchell

Basil George Mitchell (9 April 1917 – 23 June 2011) was an English philosopher and at one time Nolloth Professor of the Philosophy of the Christian Religion at the University of Oxford. Mitchell argued for the place of religious belief in public debate and criticised liberal humanism.

Background Mitchell was the son of George William Mitchell and Mary Mitchell, née Loxston. He was educated at King Edward VI School, Southampton and The Queen's College, Oxford. His father was a disciple of the Sufi mystic Inayat Khan. In 1940, Basil's family put up Khan's widow and children, including the future SOE agent Noor Inayat Khan, in their house in Southampton after the Khans arrived in England fleeing the German occupation of France. Basil was instrumental in introducing Jean Overton Fuller, Noor Inayat Khan's friend and biographer, to Noor.

During World War II, Mitchell served in the Royal Navy from 1940 until 1946. He served primarily as an instructor, in the Mediterranean. In 1950 he married Margaret Eleanor Collin. They had one son and three daughters.

Influence In 1947, Mitchell embarked on an academic career as a tutor in philosophy at Keble College, Oxford. In 1955 he was elected president of the Oxford Socratic Club, a position he held until 1972 when the club was dissolved. Later, Mitchell was instrumental in creating a new Oxford honours school devoted to philosophy and theology.

Festschrift Further contributions include an essay on "The Christian Conscience" to the Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity. He wrote an autobiographical essay, "War and Friendship", for the Kelly James Clark anthology, Philosophers Who Believe. In 2003, he co-wrote An Engagement with Plato's Republic, with his Oxford friend and fellow philosopher J. R. Lucas.

Steven Holtzer and William Abraham co-edited a Festschrift for him, The Rationality of Religious Belief, which includes an appreciation of his thought and character by Oliver O'Donovan, and an essay on the Eucharist by Michael Dummett. In 2009, he published a memoir, Looking Back: on Faith, Philosophy and Friends in Oxford.