Papers and Posts
Let me clarify something: the essays I post here are not really intended as conventional blog posts. They are papers I write as part of my ongoing research. I publish them here because it is easier and quicker than going through the usual publication channels, which for various reasons is not feasible for me now. I publish them for serious philosophical readers across the world and for posterity. I am not interested in commenting on “the profession”, save glancingly.
Good chat with Chomsky in a recent on-line edition of, “The Boston Review”. Politics, ofcourse. A more measured analysis of the rise of the Trumpian base I hardly expected—yet the man sometimes seems entirely too rational. A choice curse word popped in here or there in the course of an interview might better convey his outrage. Anyway, impressive defeat of Nadal by Rublev at Monte Carlo. A ton of young players on the rise.
Today’s final was impressive and it’s hard to see how the old guard can compete with the new guys for much longer.
When a philosopher the caliber of McGinn ends up publishing on a blog, as opposed to in the literature, it really does suggest that there is something profoundly wrong with the academy.
Profoundly wrong certainly, also deeply stupid: there is a sickness abroad. Even supposedly intelligent people are stricken with this sickness (I won’t name names here). It will be a source of retrospective shame for the American philosophy profession. For me it is a source of contempt and disdain.
I have read this just now (unfortunately untimely) and realize that you have conceived this space as a forum for academic philosophy. Therefore I owe you an apology. I stumbled upon the blog by chance and thought it was just the personal blog of a philosopher, open to the general public for a multidisciplinary discussion on subjects that you opened with provocative texts. Something like a discussion group on the philosophy of science in which I participated long ago, led by an epistemologist but with participation of people with a variety of backgrounds: scientists, mathematicians, students… The fact that you touch on a variety of subjects such as literary works, sports or science reassured me on this. Since I had read and enjoyed “The Mysterious Flame”, the blog was quite attractive. I will add in my defense that the fact that several of the participants use aliases and not their real names did not help me…So, I am a bit embarrassed and I feel I must have been an annoyance. Had I known, I would have not dared to step in. My apologies again. This will be my last post in this blog.
No need to apologize. You made some lively contributions. It is true though that the bog is conceived as mainly for philosophers. I also use it as a way to put my recent work into the public arena. It is not intended as a place for lengthy discussions, for which I have neither the time nor the appetite.