tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post8297898395393420084..comments2024-03-29T03:19:09.227-04:00Comments on The Philosopher's Stone: MEMOIRS VOLUME TWO EIGHTH INSTALLMENTRobert Paul Wolffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11970360952872431856noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-73476304303944263502010-04-25T13:14:21.911-04:002010-04-25T13:14:21.911-04:00I had the pleasure of making the index to the Camb...I had the pleasure of making the index to the Cambridge Companion to Rawls for Samuel Freeman my first summer in grad school at Penn. The pay for doing it allowed me to pay my rent that summer and it was mostly enjoyable work, though I did it the old-fashioned way for the most part- writing out in the margins of the proof-pages everything that should go in the index and then putting it together manually. The first review of the book (in the Notre Dame Philosophical Review) mentioned the index and I felt very proud.Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01446428606119200980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-55876390580829806722010-04-24T19:27:26.404-04:002010-04-24T19:27:26.404-04:00Andrew, this is a very large subject, which requir...Andrew, this is a very large subject, which requires a good deal of technical development. Only once one really understands the technical stuff is it possible to see how it is MISUSED. I do not think I can simply weave it into my memoir, but maybe, if there is enough interest, I could start a totally separate blog on which I develop this material systematically and at serious length, and then use the technical materials to reveal the limitations, not the power, of those technical tricks. Maybe I should ask, on my blog, whether anyone is interested. What I am essentially talking about is teaching an entire course in blog-sized pieces.Robert Paul Wolffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11970360952872431856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-17608531205325254232010-04-24T17:54:12.414-04:002010-04-24T17:54:12.414-04:00I myself would very much like to see your work on ...I myself would very much like to see your work on game theory and, I take it, your critique. Unfortunately in my "discipline" (political science) almost rational choice theory, formal models and game theory have become a type of religion amongst some (not all): that is, formal models are what make the "science" in political science a "real science." Of course this is absurd on many levels, but many adhere to this view of what science is, look at the journals (or most of them) especially, when the APSR, for example, was published out of Michigan State --- it was essentially, worthless then. I teach methods and international security so I would love to see your remarks on game theory.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09311799067243518683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-18388009820841248442010-04-24T17:36:49.123-04:002010-04-24T17:36:49.123-04:00Excuse me, gentlemen, but I rather enjoy the story...Excuse me, gentlemen, but I rather enjoy the story of the relationship of two brilliant academics and the wedding! :-)Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02508381261535877414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-13660435970939762092010-04-24T17:18:56.430-04:002010-04-24T17:18:56.430-04:00"Nick was concerned that topics discussed but..."Nick was concerned that topics discussed but not mentioned be located and identified in the index."<br /><br />Now <i>that</i> I could definitely get behind. Saying I've given up using indexes was a bit of an equivocation coming from my having been, at the time of that comment, trying desperately to find the sections in <i>After Virtue</i> where relativism is discussed. The index for that book is horrid; a paltry three pages, mostly authors' names. In my (very limited) experience, this seems to be the rule rather than the exception.Robertohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02505241386976228937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-64636707451741188652010-04-24T16:45:57.912-04:002010-04-24T16:45:57.912-04:00...and even in 2002 White's contributions to t......and even in 2002 White's contributions to the index of his book consisted of a large stack of index cards with terms and page references to the page proofs.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08938119999771413452noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-77819263508647894952010-04-24T15:20:32.919-04:002010-04-24T15:20:32.919-04:00I totally agree, Ken, about the Selby-Bigge index....I totally agree, Ken, about the Selby-Bigge index. His edition of the TREATISE is, I think, my favorite book. MY copy is in tatters. That index is an education all by itself, and could never have been produced by a computer. The same is true with regard to the Nick White story. I feel that way about library research. Actually walking into the stacks and wandering up one aisle and down another puts you in touch with things you might never have thought to look at.<br /><br />It is fascinating to me which topics in my memoirs seem to trigger an outpouring of comments. I thought of that indexing story as just an amjusing anecdote.Robert Paul Wolffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11970360952872431856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-9969723740805598002010-04-24T15:04:19.369-04:002010-04-24T15:04:19.369-04:00Around 8 years ago I helped Nick White produce the...Around 8 years ago I helped Nick White produce the index for his book <i>Individual and Conflict in Greek Ethics</i>. Although I don't remember it being an explicit goal of ours in producing the index, we ended up trying to provide entries that no search engine I know of could produce. Nick was concerned that topics discussed but not mentioned be located and identified in the index. And, we also located discussions that covered several pages as "passim" entries. Nick also used the index to organize and present topics he thought ought to be grouped into clusters of entries according to his sense of what he was presenting in the text.<br /><br />Two other indexes stand out to me as comprising valuable additions to their main texts beyond mere pointers to usages of terms: L. A. Selby-Bigge's indexes to Hume's <i>Treatise</i> and <i>Enquiries</i>, and Locke's index to his <i>Essay</i>. On the latter what I like about its organization is that Locke organized the entries according to the points he wanted to emphasize. Instance: the first entry in the heading for "Morality" is "capable of demonstration" with pointers to passages in books III and IV. Subsequent entries under that heading are neither alphabetically nor sequentially organized.<br /><br />--Ken Brown (Cal Poly)Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08938119999771413452noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-70138540621802016552010-04-24T13:31:45.241-04:002010-04-24T13:31:45.241-04:00I am not sure that old manuscvript would stand the...I am not sure that old manuscvript would stand the light of day, but I have elaborate lecture notes for my course, "The Use and Abuse of Formal Models in Political Theory," which folks might find very useful. Some of that made its way into my book on Rawls, some into my critique of Bob Nozick's ANARCHY, STATE, AND UTOPIA [Arizona Law Review], and some in the Canadian Journal of Philosophy essay criticizing Jon Elster's book on Marx. Maybe when I complete the writing of this memoir, I can work all of that up into something worth posting on line. I have quite a good deal to say. But I warn you, it is really technical. You cannot really use that stuff unless you master the mathematics.Robert Paul Wolffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11970360952872431856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-37187852889073648562010-04-24T13:23:45.822-04:002010-04-24T13:23:45.822-04:00I read your new memoirs daily, and I wanted to add...I read your new memoirs daily, and I wanted to add a quick point on Rawls' love of indexing books, which Roberto just mentioned:<br /><br />"They [Jack and Mardy] were married in June 1949 and spent the summer in Princeton, producing the index to Walter Kaufmann's book Nietzsche: Philosopher, Psychologist, and Anti-Christ in exchange for the then princely sum of $500" (Thomas Pogge, John Rawls: His Life and Theory of Justice, p. 15).<br /><br />It was interesting to read about your book manuscript on nuclear deterrence. Have you thought of making it more widely available (perhaps online)? Formal models and game theory are still quite influential in political science, and a thoughtful critique of them would make an important contribution.analyticphilosopherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10436885120241314043noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-1033921769908292012010-04-24T07:53:36.642-04:002010-04-24T07:53:36.642-04:00That is fascinating about Jack Rawls. I did not k...That is fascinating about Jack Rawls. I did not know that. Along related lines, when I was young, somebody in philosophy made a name for himself by producing a concordance to the works of Spinoza -- a listing of where each word appeared in the total corpus of Spinoza's works. It was extremely useful, of course, but today would be a total waste of time. Same for the many concordances to the Bible. I just use the King Jame version online which immediately tells me "plowshares" appears!Robert Paul Wolffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11970360952872431856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-20997569431431393262010-04-24T07:36:57.693-04:002010-04-24T07:36:57.693-04:00On the subject of creating indexes, I'm remind...On the subject of creating indexes, I'm reminded of two anecdotes, neither of which have sources. Heidegger is said to have been staunchly against the appending of an index to Being and Time, supposedly intent on encouraging people to re-read huge chunks the book in order to find what they were looking for. I've always somewhat suspected this must have been at least a little related to how difficult the process was in pre-digital times. The contrast is Rawls (I think it was him), who absolutely (and unimaginably) adored the process of making an index. <br /><br />Being entirely a product of the digital age, I've actually abandoned even just <i>using</i> indexes, since Google Books actually let's you search the entire contents of a book. Even when the relevant pages are not available for online reading, it'll still tell you what pages to look at in a paper copy. Ah, technology...Robertohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02505241386976228937noreply@blogger.com