ABSTRACT
In the conference from which this volume is derived, I used a format of 48 theses with the intention of producing a ‘punchy’ presentation. But there were two more basic reasons for this choice of mode of argument. First, I was at an early stage in my thinking on the subject matter and laying out a skeletal argument was both necessary and as far as my thinking had reached. Second, and related to the latter, the subject matter I had chosen encompassed a scope of ideas that was unusually wide-ranging: the method of short, sharp statements as theses was a way of compressing the tentative argument into a manageable whole for the audience. All these conditions still exist so I have continued with this format in this chapter. However, as well as revising, extending and reorganizing the theses as a result of further thinking, I have added this preamble to indicate how I have come to the subject matter at hand.
