July 04, 2004

Portrait of the philosopher picking an argument

Posted by John Holbo

Brian Leiter posts on ‘philosopher’s tics’. Very true, very true. I just happen to have buried something similar in a long recent post you probably didn’t read, and just as well. So here it is. It’s from Imre Kertész’ novel - but I fear it’s his autobiography - Kaddish For a Child Not Born. The narrator is at some sort of forest retreat for writers and thinkers, trying to avoid the writers and thinkers. Alas, he is not successful. “The philosopher was nearing me in a pondering mood; I could see it in the slightly inclined pose of his head, on which his rascally visored cap perched; he approached like a humorous highwayman with a few drinks down his gullet, pondering whether to knock me down or content himself with the loot.”

Posted on July 4, 2004 03:41 PM UTC
Comments

The following conversation took place in our household some time ago:

Spouse: “Those two cars are identical”

Me:

<silence>

Her: “You thought it, didn’t you!!

Me: “Thought what?”

Her: “You know what I’m talking about…”

Posted by Chris Bertram · July 4, 2004 05:38 PM

I did too read that post.

Posted by des von bladet · July 4, 2004 08:31 PM
Followups

→ Philosopher's Tics.
Excerpt: Ok, so I know I have a major case of this and it is one of my major personality flaws, but I really like to think that I'm a recovering patient: "Philosopher's Tics: The inability to pass over a faulty inference or fallacy in silence, or to correct it ...Read more at Muninn

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