Alexander, or as he was universally known, Sandy, Anderson was the only child of John and Janet Anderson and had no children of his own. He was born in Scotland in 1923 and migrated to Australia with his parents when his father took up the Challis Chair of Philosophy in 1927. He was home schooled until secondary school, and then attended Knox Grammar. He graduated in 1952 from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Arts with First Class Honours in Philosophy and Third Class Honours in English, and went on to lecture at the University of Newcastle.