Oh dear, I am very, very sorry for having failed to offer a thoughtful or useful response to your comments. I apologize. In the nature of things, that is [polluted] water under the bridge, but I pledge to do a better job should you offer a comment in the future. As for dismissing you as a failed academic, I hope I have made it clear in my occasional blog posts that I am quite aware of how much luck there was in my happy and successful career. I just stumbled onto the academic scene at a time when there were plenty of jobs and plenty of publishing opportunities. I anguish for those of my students who cannot launch successful careers, despite doing fine work and deserving so much more.
Well, I bellyached, and I got my comeuppance. My apologies.
Jezis Maria!---as they say locally! I confess that words leave my lips (the barrier of my teeth as Homer said)--and I must face unexpected consequences. I'm a teacher myself, and I'm far from perfect; so, I should be more tolerant. Perhaps it is the infant inside me who looks for comfort as much as novelty who was responsible for my complaint. The fact is you've not contributed to my decline--if that is what I am today experiencing. On the contrary, even if I was once disappointed (but then were my expectations realistic?)--your blog has been a great help to me. For understanding, even about the most mundane things, is a pleasure and an aid. Let me put it differently: you'd like your audience to engage with "big ideas", but your comments on the passing scene are also valuable, even though they might not be for you so stimulating as thinking about Marx or Freud or another great mind. So, thank you. As I said, even if I am no longer employed by a Department of Philosophy, I am (even today) a teacher of sorts, and I can benefit from your example.
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