It was with great sadness that the Department of Philosophy learned of the death of former colleague and friend Chris Cherry, who passed away in late December 2020.
Chris Cherry, born in 1937, was a founding member of the University of Kent and of the Department of Philosophy. He came to Kent to help set up the subject of Philosophy on 1 October 1965 and met his future wife Pru, who was a member of the University’s first intake of students. Chris Cherry retired as Reader in 2002, and sadly passed away in late December 2020.
Chris served the University in many capacities, including a spell as Senior Tutor in the Faculty of Humanities, and was a very distinguished Master of Eliot College, actively promoting the artistic and cultural life of the college.
In his own discipline he went on to become Reader in Philosophy, and published many articles in prestigious academic journals. His philosophical interests were wide-ranging, including moral philosophy but extending to the whole philosophical enterprise of seeking to understand human culture and the human condition. He was particularly fascinated by the relationship of human beings to the past and the nature of memory, and his interest in the self and personal identity embraced a serious philosophical engagement with parapsychology and the enigma of post-mortem survival.
His philosophical work reflected his own wide interests, which included history, particularly local history and landscape history, and he was a very active member of the Blean Woods Project to research the history of the Blean. His interest in parapsychology took a practical turn with forays into ghost-busting. He was a voracious reader, with a particular enthusiasm for Dickens. He was an immensely well-informed fan of, among other things, punk rock, movies – especially Westerns – and Liverpool Football Club, and one of his last conversations was an opportunity to celebrate a 7-0 win for Liverpool.
In recent years he suffered from physical ailments which greatly restricted his mobility and must have been a huge frustration, but his enthusiasms remained undiminished, not least his appetite for philosophical discussion and for lively and intelligent conversation. He will be remembered by his very wide circle of friends and colleagues as a warm outgoing person whom it was a delight to know.