A Bit of History

A Bit of History

When I arrived in Oxford in 1972, after having studied psychology for the previous four years in Manchester, I was in need of a philosophy supervisor. At that time, I was enrolled in the B.Litt. program, having been deemed by R.M. Hare not qualified to undertake the B.Phil. degree. I had recently read an article by Michael Ayers that seemed to me akin to the work of the Danish philosopher Peter Zinkernagel, with whom I had had a lengthy correspondence. He agreed to supervise me. After the first term, he recommended that I should be promoted to the B.Phil., which duly happened. He was an excellent supervisor and a nice man. However, as it turned out, the philosophy panel had assigned me to Simon Blackburn, then a young philosopher recently arrived from Cambridge. I wrote to tell him that I had already signed up with Michael Ayers, which meant I had little to do with him during my education at Oxford. I often wonder how things would have gone if I had not chanced upon that article by Michael and thus ended up with Simon. It’s impossible to say. The next person to supervise me was Peter Strawson, arranged by Michael—would I have had him if I had gone with Simon? These counterfactuals are a mystery! As the years went by, I had more to do with Simon, though our paths didn’t intersect that much; I did review one of his books for the TLS. We also did a seminar together in Oxford when I was Wilde Reader. Now, over fifty years later, Simon reviewed my book Philosophical Provocations, very favorably. I think back to that time in Oxford when I arrived from outside and in another subject and was in want of a supervisor.