Peter Serracino Inglott


Rev. Peter Serracino Inglott was Rector of the University of Malta and Emeritus Professor of philosophy at the same University.
A Catholic priest, Serracino Inglott was ordained in Milan by Cardinal Montini, later Pope Paul VI.

Studies

Serracino-Inglott studied at the then Royal University of Malta, Campion Hall, Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, the Institut Catholique de Paris and the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore with a thesis on Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus.

Academic career and honours

He was head of the philosophy department at the University of Malta between 1971 and 1996, when he was succeeded by Joe Friggieri. He was also professor in the faculty of theology at the University.
Serracino Inglott was professor of aesthetics at the Instituto Internazionale di Arte e Liturgia at Milan, visiting professor at Panthéon-Assas University, UNESCO Fellow at the Open University, UK and guest lecturer at the universities of Cincinnati, Milan, Venice, Palermo and the College of Europe at Bruges.
He was conferred honorary doctorates by Brunel University in the United Kingdom, Luther College, Iowa and the International Maritime Organization's International Maritime Law Institute. He was also honoured by the French, Italian, Portuguese and Maltese governments respectively with the Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur, Cavaliere di Gran Croce of the Ordine al Merito, Gra-Cruz da Ordam and Companion of the Order of Merit .

Public life

Serracino Inglott was an advisor to the former Prime Minister of Malta, Eddie Fenech Adami. He was one of three Maltese representatives at the Convention on the Future of Europe presided by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, contributing to various aspects of the debate at the Convention ranging from proposed amendments to include a reference to Europe's Christian traditions to procedural proposals to streamline the EU's decision-making process. He was one of the founder members of the Today Public Policy Institute.

Philosophy

Language was at the centre of Serracino Inglott's philosophical work with Thomas Aquinas and Ludwig Wittgenstein as the two critical signposts on his conceptual terrain. A former student, Mario Vella, wrote a critical assessment of Serracino Inglott as philosopher, Reflections in a Canvas Bag: Beginning Philosophy Between Politics and History Marsa, Malta: PEG, 1989.
Serracino Inglott published two principal philosophical texts. Additionally, he wrote and expressed himself in the media on a variety of subjects but the Mediterranean region stands out as a leitmotif in his thought and core interest.

Death

Serracino Inglott died on 16 March 2012. He was diagnosed with Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease and was treated at Mater Dei Hospital.

Selected bibliography