Edinburgh was full of meetings with good people -- a wonderful former student set to start her PhD, smart fun Edinburgh philosophy postgraduates, Michael Ridge who sees so quickly where my weirdest arguments are going, Jessica Wilson who gave an excellent talk on metaphysical indeterminacy, and old philosophy friends with brilliant wives and adorable children. A few nights after I drunkenly kissed a statue, I kissed a fascinating girl. At dawn I woke from my friend Bryan Pickels couch and walked to the train station, ancient buildings all around me and a glowing sunrise above. The train took me to Anglesey,after which a ship took me to Dublin where Aisling Crean and Tom Curtin kindly offered me their spare room, and now Im boarding a plane for New Orleans. Thanks to some wonderful people at Tulane, Ill be there for the next academic year. My plans for the next few years involve a lot of waking from friends couches at odd hours and boarding various conveyances to towns Ive never seen. Its not that need travel for its own sake. I can be quite happy living in the same little box for a long time, if provided with tasty food and smart philosophers to talk with. But Im not pleased by further domestic comforts, or pained by the minor inconveniences of first-world travel. And I really like writing my book on a train through beautiful countryside, and seeing a dozen hands go up -- some friendly, some hostile -- as Q&A begins after my talk. Those are the things that keep me moving.
Posted on: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 09:47:42 +0000
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