a few more remarks on Villanova

I’ve probably given short shrift here to the wonderfully organized conference at Villanova, mostly because I’m still on Cairo time and always in a rush to catch some sleep at precisely the moment when others are just getting revved up. (Then I’m up at 3:30 AM when no one else is.)

The last three full-blown conferences I’ve attended (Dundee, Claremont, Villanova) have been three of the best conferences I’ve ever attended. Why is that? Are people getting smarter? Maybe, but unlikely. Am I becoming more tolerant and liking everything more with age? Possible, but not probable. The best explanation is that I’m simply happier with recent trends in philosophy than I was in the 1990’s, and thus the conferences are more pleasing to me now due to their content being more interesting. There were all kinds of good papers at that Villanova conference, and the students there are really smart.

For the first time ever, I also had the chance to sit through a panel consisting of two people who were completely trashing my ideas. All in good fun.

Sorry if I already mentioned this and am repeating a story (I’m too tired to go look) but this was my first visit to Villanova since October 1990 for SPEP, the first academic conference I ever attended. It was in the building across the street from this year’s conference.

As for Philadelphia– wow. It feels kind of exciting right now, even.