{"id":2075,"date":"2022-04-28T15:47:08","date_gmt":"2022-04-28T15:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2022\/04\/28\/so-whats-up-with-the-metaphilosphy-book\/"},"modified":"2022-04-28T15:47:08","modified_gmt":"2022-04-28T15:47:08","slug":"so-whats-up-with-the-metaphilosphy-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2022\/04\/28\/so-whats-up-with-the-metaphilosphy-book\/","title":{"rendered":"So What’s up with the Metaphilosophy Book?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was happy to find the following item in the mailbag the other morning:<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Hi Bill,<\/span><\/p>\n

I recall (however, I can't find exactly where) that you mentioned in an old blog post your intention to publish a work on metaphilosophy at some point in the future. I am curious, is this still a goal of yours? If so, is it in progress? I would be delighted to read it, but I understand if you've chosen not to pursue that project.<\/span><\/div>\n
 <\/div>\n
Your grateful reader,<\/span><\/div>\n
Chandler<\/span><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Thank you for your inquiry, Chandler. Yes, the metaphilosophy book is in progress, and has been for longer than I care to reveal.  Why am I taking so long with it?<\/span><\/div>\n
 <\/div>\n
I gave the following dissertation advice<\/a> a few posts ago:<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
. . . finish the bloody thing now while you are young and cocky and energetic.  Finish it before your standards become too exacting. Give yourself a year, say, do your absolute best and crank it out. Think of it as a union card. It might not get you a job but then it just might. Don't think of it as a magnum opus<\/em> or you will never finish. <\/span><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
My current predicament is the opposite. I am now old and my standards have become as exacting as they ever will be.  I'm under time pressure but it's of a different sort than the young person's. The young philosopher needs to 'make it' and secure a space within which he can pursue his vocation.  He has to solve 'the problem of the belly.' He may also be driven by worldly ambition. I have secured the space, solved the problem of livelihood, and I have renounced all worldly ambition in line with Wittgenstein's 1948 observation, "Ambition is the death of thought." (Ehrgeiz ist der Tod des Denkens<\/em>, Culture and Value<\/strong>, p. 77)<\/span><\/div>\n
 <\/div>\n
So now I can afford to set high standards. Trouble is, they slow you down.  That's good in one way.  I take to heart the advice of  Wittgenstein and Brentano. <\/span>Ludwig Wittgenstein, Culture and Value<\/strong> (University of Chicago Press, 1980), p. 80: Der Gruss der Philosophen unter einander sollte sein: "Lass Dir Zeit!" "<\/em>This is how philosophers should greet each other: 'Take your time!'"<\/p>\n

A similar thought is to be found in Franz Brentano, though I have forgotten where he says this: Wer eilt, bewegt sich nicht auf dem Boden der Wissenschaft. "<\/em>One who hurries is not proceeding on a scientific basis."<\/span><\/div>\n

 <\/div>\n
On the other hand,  the clock is running, the flag will fall, and the time control is sudden death. There is no secondary or tertiary control; nor can one  take an 'incomplete' when the Grim Reaper comes knocking, his scythe glistening in the rays of the setting sun.<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was happy to find the following item in the mailbag the other morning: Hi Bill, I recall (however, I can't find exactly where) that you mentioned in an old blog post your intention to publish a work on metaphilosophy at some point in the future. I am curious, is this still a goal of yours? … Continue reading “So What’s up with the Metaphilosophy Book?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[92,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-autobiographical","category-metaphilosophy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2075"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2075\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}