Chapter 4 Acquiring a Skill Now we know what skills are, how they are distributed, and how they evolved; next we must ask how they are acquired. This topic is more practical than the previous topics, and probably more appealing to the reader interested in improving his or her skills. What is the best way […]
Chapter 3 Origins of Skill Look around you at human society: you will see many people—almost everyone—equipped with one skill or the other, often with multiple skills. We are routinely classified as Homo sapiens, but we might as well be described as Homo skillians. Skill is our species characteristic, our zoological essence. That is, we […]
Chapter 2 The Scope of Skill This is to be a descriptive chapter: I will enumerate and describe the many kinds of skill there are, noting their similarities and dissimilarities. The emphasis will be on the enormous variety of skills, along with their clear affinities. It is remarkable that we bring such variety under a […]
Chapter 1 What is Skill? The concept of skill is not simple. We use the word, but how well do we understand its denotation? The OED gives us “the ability to do something well; expertise or dexterity”, deriving from Old English scele meaning “knowledge”. AI gives us something fuller: “A skill is a learned ability […]
Skill: A Philosophy of Practice Introduction You might be wondering how a philosopher could write knowledgeably about skill, especially physical skill. Aren’t philosophers clumsy, ill-coordinated, awkward brainiacs with their head in the clouds? They may be skilled in their brains, but not in their bodies. And there is a good deal of truth in this […]
In My Life There are places I’ll remember all my life. I’m talking about departments I’ve been a member of, though some have changed. First, the psychology department at Manchester University, in which I was a student for four years. Then, Jesus College Oxford for two years, along with 10 Merton Street, as a philosophy […]
Mysticism, Miracles, and Mystery How are these three categories related? Are they connected in any way? I shall say not. Mysticism is the idea centrally that there is a way of knowing about the world that transcends ordinary human knowing with the senses and intellect—a way that only some people possess and which may require […]
A Tennis Story I have been making a study of James Bond, reading the novels and watching the movies. I think I now know the Bond mind: principled, decisive, realistic, ingenious, effective, sometimes violent. I recently faced a Bond challenge over at the tennis courts, involving a shrub. I don’t think SMERSH was behind it, […]
