Abstract

Warwick Oswald Fairfax was a fourth generation Fairfax proprietor of the Sydney Morning Herald and one of Australia's longest serving media owners, heading John Fairfax and Sons for 46 years. Yet he remains a relatively unknown figure in the annals of Australian journalism history. This article focuses on Fairfax's philosophical, social and political thought, honed in the halls of Balliol College, Oxford. As a consequence of his Oxford studies, Fairfax retained a lifelong interest in philosophy, publishing a book in the field and leaving a second manuscript at his death. These works, together with Fairfax's journalism, reveal the influence of British idealist thought. By identifying the relationship between Fairfax's thought and that of Australian proponents of idealism, this article positions Fair fax within a broader idealist intellectual tradition in Australia.