the philosophers’

magazine issue 29 • 1st quarter 2005

reporter 6news hound news, plus straw poll and mediawatch

9word of mouse can the Internet determine elections?

11bad boys philosophers behaving badly

14out & about must we talk about Harry Potter?

16teach thyself the changing face of introductions thoughts 17choosing belief Chris Norris pens the TPM Essay

24sci-phimeetour little relatives

26JacquesDerridaTributesfromCatherineAudard,SimonGlendinning,ChristinaHowellsandAlanMontefiore

35provocationsisdownloadingskillsunethical?

forum 38the symposium a Greek tradition comes to Soho, London

45what a union! Genevieve Lloyd on love in Descartes and Spinoza

49being in sync Nancy Sherman on the triumph of love

52unfit to wed Jonathan Derbyshire on the love lives of philosophers

54right loving Raja Halwani questions love’s morality

58what is love? Peter Goldie on the wrong answer

63real love Michael Lacewing on love as world-maker discussion 67my philosophy Alexander McCall Smith shows his Socratic side

70head to head Chris Bertram and Jeremy Stangroom lock horns on blogging

75Arthur C Danto chats about the end of art the lowdown 79the directory listings for UK and North America

80snapshotthelowdown on Max Stirner

82theory of knowledge the fourth in the introductory series

85conceptualcarveryonsenseandreference review 87New books by John Harris, Colin McGinn and others last words 92Bertrand’sbreakfunandgames

94lettershavingyour say

96the skeptic predicting election winners plus • subscriptions page 10 • spell shocked p48

The Philosophers' Magazine/1st quarter 2005 Response to the new format of TPM has been very encouraging, with the vast majority of feedback we have received positive. (See letters, p 94) This is especially heartening because received wisdom is that regular readers of magazines and newspapers don’t initially like major changes, even when, in the long term, they come to see them as improvements. Perhaps our readers, clever lot that you are, can just easily see through these short-term biases of thought.

One immediate effect of the change has been an increase in the number of Barnes & Noble stores in the US stocking us. So if you have found us on their shelves for the first time, welcome. And if you’re sitting in the in-store cafė browsing, for goodness sake buy it!

Building on last issue’s drastic shape change, we have some more editorial innovations this time. First, we are beginning a new series called “my philosophy” in which people who are famous for things other than philosophy discuss the philosophers’

magazine

98 Mulgrave Road, Sutton, Surrey SM2 6LZ, UK Tel: 020 8643 1504 Fax: 0709 237 6412 editor@philosophers.co.uk www.philosophers.co.uk Editors Julian Baggini (print edition)

Jeremy Stangroom (new media)

Editorial advisor Ophelia Benson Reviews Editor Jonathan Derbyshire reviews@philosophers.co.uk

Contributing Editors Susan Dwyer, Simon Eassom, Peter Fosl, Michael LaBossiere, Jeff Mason, Christopher Norris, Christian Perring Illustrations/Graphics Felix Bennett (cover), Jerry Bird, Jen Caban, Pipo di Bressana, Michael LaBossiere, Gareth Southwell. Contributors’ Notes Contact the editor to submit proposals. Please do not send unsolicited manuscripts. Contributors Catherine Audard, Ophelia Benson, Christopher Bertram, Jonathan Derbyshire, Peter S Fosl, Simon Glendinning, Peter Goldie, Wendy Grossman, Raja Halwani, Francis Halsall, Lawrence R Harvey, Christina Howells, Mathew Iredale, Emily Jackson, Julia Jansen, Sue John-

the impact the subject has had on their own lives and thought. The series begins with the bestselling novelist Alexander McCall Smith, who, it turns out, is probably as much a philosopher as anyone.

A second, smaller change is that we are starting our reviews section with one longer piece, to allow more detailed discussion of a significant recent book.

Finally, this issue features four pieces offering personal responses to the death of Jacques Derrida. Derrida had more than his fair share of critics in America and Britain, but we did not feel this was the time to hear what they had to say. For the many of us who are more familiar with the oft-ridiculed caricature of Derrida than the thinker himself, these articles provide an opportunity to begin a more serious reappraisal of this most influential of thinkers.

son, Michael LaBossiere, Michael Lacewing, Aaron Lambert, Tim LeBon, Genevieve Lloyd, Alan Montefirore, Christopher Norris, Tony O’Connor, Duncan Pritchard, Nigel Rodgers, Nancy Sherman, John L Taylor, Terence Thomas, Mel Thompson, Tim Thornton. Distribution by (UK) Central Books, 99 Wallis Road, London E9 5LN Tel: 020 8986 4854 (North America) Ingram Periodicals Inc., 1240 Heil Quaker Blvd., La Vergne, TN 37086-7000; Tel: (615) 793 5522; Ubiquity Distributors Inc., 607 Degraw Street, Brooklyn, NY 11217 Tel: (718) 875 5491 Printed by Warwick Printing, Caswell Road, Leamington Spa CV31 1QD With thanks to Alison Irvine, George Leaman, The Rainnies, Pam Swope. Subscriptions UK: 01442 879097 North America: 1 800 444 2419 See page 36 for full details

© 2004, The Philosophers’ Magazine and contributors

ISSN 1354-814X

All views expressed in The Philosophers’ Magazine represent those of the authors of each article and do not necessarily reflect those of the editors or publishers.

The Philosophers' Magazine/1st quarter 2005