Sometimes, when Im reading or listening to a paper which excites me with its novelty and brilliance, perhaps because it contains some really elegant move, a mental image comes into my head of Steve McManaman running with the ball, circa 1996.
Anyone who has read Freges Foundations of Arithmetic knows how seductive Freges logicism can be. Russells letter hits most of us with all the force of a Dear John letter.
So is philosophy more like sport or like sex? Or like drugs or rock’n’roll?
I’m in the sport camp. Chris thinks watching good philosophy is like watching Steve McManaman. I’ve often felt it’s more like watching good leg-spin bowling, say Shane Warne of the same vintage. It’s all about skill rather than strength, and you have no idea about what’s going to come next, except that it will make you rearrange how you’ve done things before. When it’s good philosophy on an area I work in, it’s like watching Shane Warne from the other end of the pitch, with what feels like a pitifully small bat in one’s hands.