Anthony D. Woozley, 95; U-Va. Legal Philosopher

Anthony Douglas Woozley, a University of Virginia professor and noted philosopher who contributed to the study of legal philosophy, died of aspiration pneumonitis April 6 at Martha Jefferson Hospital in Charlottesville. He was 95.

As a young philosopher and a fellow of Queen's College at Oxford, Mr. Woozley was struck by the similarities between arguments in law and arguments in philosophy. In 1948, he discussed with Tony Honoré, a law fellow, the possibility of doing a joint class in law and philosophy.

Honoré leapt at the idea, said Mr. Woozley's wife, Cora A. Diamond, also a philosopher. The two men organized a class in 1951, which inaugurated the study of legal philosophy at Oxford and in the United Kingdom.

Mr. Woozley also played a key role in developing the subject in the United States after he joined the U-Va. faculty in 1967. He forged connections between the philosophy department and the law school. With Calvin Woodard and Thomas Bergin of the law school, Mr. Woozley taught popular seminars in legal philosophy.

Mr. Woozley, who also served as chairman of the philosophy department at U-Va., was among the first in the country to offer undergraduate classes in legal philosophy and was involved in creating one of the first combined juris doctor-master's of arts philosophy programs in the nation.

Richard A. Merrill, dean of U-Va.'s School of Law, said Mr. Woozley's "writings on the concepts of responsibility and obligation and his penetrating criticisms of [Hans] Kelsen, [H.L.A.] Hart and [Ronald] Dworkin have established Tony as one of this century's major legal philosophers."

Mr. Woozley was the last surviving member of the group of seven philosophers whose discussions at All Souls College at Oxford from 1937 to 1939 were the beginning of the movement that became known as "ordinary language philosophy," said Diamond, professor emeritus at U-Va.

The group was led by J.L. Austin and included Stuart Hampshire, Isaiah Berlin and A.J. Ayer. Discussions continued after World War II, and Mr. Woozley remained a member until leaving Oxford in 1954.

Mr. Woozley, also known as A.D. Woozley, was born in Beaconsfield, United Kingdom. He graduated from Oxford in 1935. He received a John Locke scholarship from Oxford in 1935 and a master's degree in 1938.

He was commissioned in the King's Dragoon Guards of the British Army in 1940 and served in North Africa, Italy, Greece, Palestine, Lebanon and Egypt during World War II. He rose to the rank of major.

After the war, Mr. Woozley co-authored and edited the wartime history of his regiment: "History of the King's Dragoon Guards, 1938-1945."

He taught at Oxford University and the University of St. Andrews, where he was professor of moral philosophy and served as dean of the faculty of arts.

Mr. Woozley was also the author of "Theory of Knowledge" (1949) and, with R.C. Cross, "Plato's Republic: A Philosophical Commentary" (1964). He also published an edition of Thomas Reid's "Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man" (1941) and John Locke's "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding" (1964).

His 1979 work "Law and Obedience: The Arguments of Plato's Crito" combined his interest in ancient philosophy with his interest in legal philosophy.

He was a visiting professor of philosophy at University of Rochester in 1965 and the University of Arizona in 1972. He had lived in Charlottesville since 1967.

In retirement, he became interested in computing and wrote a customization and programming guide for the Nota Bene program in 1993.

His marriage to Thelma Townshend ended in divorce.

In addition to his second wife, of Charlottesville, survivors include a daughter from his first marriage, Jane Gunton of Drinkstone, United Kingdom; a sister; and two grandsons.