A Story About John Searle
A Story About John Searle
In 1984 John Searle gave the Reith lectures in England. This was a big deal and quite an honor. I was asked by the BBC to join a small panel commenting on these lectures. After the program was recorded, we went to a boozy lunch set up by the Beeb. It was, shall we say, pretty lively. It culminated in John standing on his chair to make his point more emphatically. This is the kind of behavior I approve of (I was with George Soros once in St Barts at a restaurant in which we all stood on the chairs and table at the end of the night to dance, him included). How things have changed. I also had a brief correspondence with Sir Peter Strawson on the best use of the word “fuck” in literature (I cited a passage from Martin Amis). Those were the good old days. He also said to me once at an academic gathering in Oxford, “There are people here I wouldn’t mind talking to, but none I want to talk to”. He also said of Putnam, then visiting Oxford, “Hilary Putnam is a very sweet man, as he would be the first to agree”.
Thank you for that
I was first year undergrad in Manchester when these lectures were being given.
I already knew about John Searle from his TV appearances on UK channel 4
I also remember him referring to watneys beer cans, presumably from his student days , as the watneys brand had by then almost disappeared
He was quite a character. I liked him.