ABSTRACT
I met John Haldane when I spent two months in beautiful St. Andrews in 1990, on the occasion of my Gifford Lectures. Ever since then, he has been not only a philosopher I admire, but a close friend – even if we ‘keep up’ with each other mainly thanks to the ‘net’. The friendly disagreement represented by the present paper, ‘Realism with a metaphysical skull’, concerns issues we have frequently discussed. 13 To respond properly to this latest statement of Haldane's position, I would have to write a substantial essay on what we can and cannot keep from Aristotle's insights, a topic dear to both of our hearts, but there is obviously not space to attempt that on this occasion. I will, however, try to state – without, however, adequate supporting argument, and so, to that extent, ‘dogmatically’ – what my present position on that question is, and also indicate briefly what my response to some of Haldane's suggestions would be.
