ABSTRACT

First things first: I want to express my enormous gratitude to all those who have contributed to this volume: friends, colleagues and former students whose theses I supervised, some all three. The generosity with time and effort involved, for example, in coming far to participate in the homage which gave rise to this book and to join there with others who shared their uncharacteristic willingness to shed their usual concern for truth when talking on that occasion of me as philosopher, teacher of philosophy or even just person, is something that seems to me quite extraordinary. Any compliments then paid I could surely return at least threefold, but I think I know those involved well enough to be able to say that they expect better, or worse, from me here: namely, my reactions free of dissimulation to what they have written. So here goes …