The Self, the Good Life and the Transcendent

Abstract

I should like to begin by recording my heartfelt gratitude to Nafsika Athanassoulis and Samantha Vice, for their labours in putting this volume together. As one who has edited a number of collections of papers, I know only too well how much work is involved in such a task. It is rather like running a conference: those who have never done it may join in perfunctory thanks to the organizers, but have no real idea, when they arrive to give their presentations, of the time and effort that has been expended to make the event possible. It is a particular source of pleasure that the two editors of this volume are former doctoral pupils of mine. Teaching is sometimes often looked down on in comparison with ‘research’ – mistakenly, in my view, since the two are integrally related, and without the discipline of having to communicate ideas face to face, philosophy can sometimes become tortuously introverted. But in any case, there can be no greater privilege than supervising really gifted students; and when they go on to take their place in the profession and become friends with whom one can continue fruitful philosophical dialogue, then ‘the cup runneth over’.