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. 

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  1. jeffrey g kessen
    jeffrey g kessen says:

    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.

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  2. Chris Hutchinson
    Chris Hutchinson says:

    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.

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    • Colin McGinn
      Colin McGinn says:

      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.

      Reply
  3. Jesus Rodriguez Requena
    Jesus Rodriguez Requena says:

    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.

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    • Colin McGinn
      Colin McGinn says:

      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.

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