Interviste

1. Dear Duncan, thank you very much for accepting my invitation to tell the readers of APhEx something about your work. We'll have time to discuss in detail various aspects of your philosophy, but let me start with a brief biographical question about your interest in philosophy and in becoming an academic. If I recall correctly, you said you wanted to be an academic, even before deciding to start a degree in philosophy. Am I right? Can you tell us something about your professional dreams at that time?

DP: Many thanks for the invitation Michel! Your memory is entirely correct. I must have been a very strange child, because from a very early age (6-7) I somehow formed the idea that I wanted to be a Professor. (I recall the teacher asking the class what we wanted to do when we grew up, and amidst all the usual answers ⎯ fireman, policewoman, train driver etc – there was my answer: "Professor"). This is particularly odd given that I don't come from a background that would bring me into contact with Professors, or indeed even people with undergraduate degrees! In fact, I'm the first member of my family to go away to University. I think I liked the idea that a Professor was as high as it went in terms of your knowledge of a subject. I may also have had some vague idea about a "life of the mind", and why this might be attractive (e.g., reading lots of books, as I loved books). Of course, I didn't know what subject I wanted to be a Professor of – that came later.