PhilosophTay

Let me describe to you my dream piece of philosophy. It’s not too long. Ideally fewer than three pages, though up to five is okay as long as every word is necessary. The title is something I read quickly, then read again more slowly. It makes me say ‘What’s all this about then?’ under my breath. The piece itself is technical but not tedious. The implications are wide but the focus is tight. There’s a nice juicy example. It’s got a sense of danger to it and an element of suspense. It reads almost like a detective story. By the time it’s over the point of the example is obvious, but the implications are spelt out anyway. This is done with a kind of quiet swagger, detectable only through a few italicised words. And it’s a slam dunk . There are no possible ifs and no possible buts, no assumptions undefended or questions unanswered. It’s not so much a line in the sand as a crack in the earth. You can’t ignore it or undermine it. Your only choice, should you encoun...