Reality at Risk

I did a year abroad and studied at the University of Warwick 1988/9. One of the greatest years of my life, mostly because of rowing with my excellent friends, Rune, Guy and Paul, and finding my first wife on a trip to Russia. But that's another story. 

The philosophy department at Warwick was pretty impressive when I was there. Susan Haack was there. A disciple of  Karl Popper, David Miller was there. But the head of the department was Roger Trigg. At the time, I thought his book Reality at Risk was a bit pedant, but it seems quite necessary now. The idea doesn't seem too radical--that we need an anchor, or nothing is wrong or right. So many ideas can drift into subjectivism. I remember 

I cleaved towards subjectivism by becoming a psychoanalyst, for a time, the reality we believe can have more impact on what we do than reality. But I've always been a metaphysical realist. Sort of like GE Moore's common sense realism, though I could be attracted to Platonic realism with the great philosopher at Wisconsin, Terry Penner, who was a student of Gilbert Ryle and wrote The Ascent from Nominalism. 

I remember Richard Rorty came to give a talk and I dismissed his philosophy as subjective. I've since learned of the split between Analytical Philosophy, which dominates American academic philosophy departments, and Continental Philosophy, which is open and takes philosophy from wider sources. In the end I like Continental philosophy and wouldn't make it as an academic philosopher.

I attended a talk while I was at Warwick, a philosopher saw it as a serious problem that is you own your children, because of all the capital you invest in them, how are they free? You grant them manumission, a word I had to look up.

I went there with a friend Greg Gilson, who is a professor at UTRGV. I left the world of philosophy behind but I have fond memories of learning all that stuff. I'm trying to read some Hegel but it's pretty rough going and I can't say I'm enjoying it. I spend most of my time reading novels. I'm quite enjoying Vineland by Thomas Pynchon. 

But I woke up today thinking about Reality at Risk, and saw it on my shelf, after thinking about how people can imagine the election was stolen. Ross Douthat had a Times editorial about it. And I felt like realism was the antidote to the subjective shopping for truth. I know truth can't be defined without reference to itself, and I know all the sexy subjectivist are more interesting, and tell us a lot of other interesting things. It's just nowadays the pedantic Trigg ideas come to the fore, and seem necessary.

Bit of gossip, I overheard him complaining that his book made a lot of Zloty in Poland and they were fairly worthless at the time, but he could go to Poland and live it up if he wanted. Seems like a good reason to go on a vacation in Poland. I got the sense that he wasn't much of an adventurer, and wouldn't do that. Our personality vectors can make swerving tip over the vehicle, on the of themes in Vineland.

Spiritually I would argue that all this thought doesn't lead you to enlightenment. You've got to get your butt on the cushion and meditate. But that's more for my other blog.