He went to school in Cape Town between 1948 and 1953, then earned a degree in Mathematics and Physics at the University of Cape Town in 1956, after which a Rhodes Scholarship (from South African College School) took him to the University of Oxford (first Balliol College, and then St Antony's College). In Oxford, he became interested in philosophy after a brief period studying mathematical logic supervised by Hao Wang, eventually writing a DPhil in philosophy, defending the ideas of Immanuel Kant about the nature of mathematical knowledge as non-empirical and non-analytic ('Knowing and Understanding', 1962, now online at AARON SLOMAN DPHIL 1962).
He attended school in Cape Town from 1948 to 1953, then obtained a degree in Mathematics and Physics at the University of Cape Town in 1956, after which a Rhodes Scholarship (from South African College School) sent him to the University of Oxford (first Balliol College, and then St Antony's College). In Oxford, he became interested in philosophy after a brief period studying mathematical logic supervised by Hao Wang, eventually writing a DPhil in philosophy, defending the ideas of Immanuel Kant about the nature of mathematical knowledge as non-empirical and non-analytic ('Knowing and Understanding', 1962, now online at AARON SLOMAN DPHIL 1962).