Topoi's main assumption is that philosophy is a lively, provocative, delightful activity, which constantly challenges our received views, relentlessly questions our inherited habits, painstakingly elaborates on how things could be different, in other stories, in counterfactual situations, in alternative possible worlds. Whatever its ideology, whether with the intent of uncovering a truer structure of reality or of soothing our anxiety, of exposing myths or of following them through, the outcome of philosophical activity is always the destabilizing, unsettling generation of doubts, of objections, of criticisms.

As one who has taught philosophy in American Universities for forty years, there are a couple of things I would add. First, philosophy taught at the undergraduate level is often that which puts students in a frame of mind to be adventurous about their college education, by encouraging them to ask questions they have not been encouraged to ask before, by showing that such questions can be approached seriously, and by introducing them to a class of people relatively invisible outside of the university, “professional” philosophers ---faculty and graduate students--- often are among the most weird and interesting and even inspiring people whom they have encountered.

其次，我想谈谈这群奇妙而有趣的人，我的哲学同事们。我对几年前参加美国哲学协会东部会议的情形记忆犹新，当时会议在巴尔的摩的一家旅馆举行。这些会面是在一场全国橄榄球联盟(National Football League)的季后赛刚刚在这座城市举行之后开始的，酒店之前的住户似乎主要是与这场比赛有关的人。由于我是从西海岸飞来的，而且必须在第一天下午早些时候参加某个会议，所以我比大多数与会者都早一晚到达。我能够看到发生了惊人的变化，足球人群离开了，哲学人群进来了。NFL的人都很高大，有些身材非常高大，大多数都长得很好看，自信，穿着得体，给高额小费，看起来很成功;我认为这是美国人应该成为的典范，根据主流的精神。我们这些哲学家大多都是中等身材，大多数人都能清楚地看出我们是衣衫褴褛的教师，紧握着我们的行李，以避免陷入不必要的小费情况。我们有许多大胡子男人——有些优雅，有些邋遢——各种有趣的知性女人;没有一个哲学家，即使是那些伟大的哲学家和美丽的哲学家，也不可能被误认为是足球运动员、啦啦队长、体育节目主持人和其他正在检票的人。 The looks from the hotel staff members, who clearly sensed that they were in for a few days of less expansive tipping and more modest bar-tabs, were a mixture of curiosity and apprehension. The talk, as philosophers recognized each other and struck up conversations, was unlike anything that ever had been or would be heard in that hotel lobby: whether there are alternative concrete possible worlds; whether there is anything in Heidegger not better said already by Husserl; whether animals should be eaten; not to mention topics that aroused truly deep passions, mostly related to proper names.

What a wonderful group of people, I thought, and how wonderful, and lucky, that the world has managed to find a niche for us. Even if philosophy had no real intellectual content at all --- was as silly as astrology or numerology certainly are, or as I suspect, in dark moments, that certain other parts of the university are--- it would still be wonderful that it existed, simply to keep these people occupied. Especially me. What would I be doing without this wonderful institution? Helping people in some small town in Nebraska with their taxes and small legal problems, I suppose, and probably not doing it very well.

But of course we philosophers do intellectually valuable and often socially useful thinking. For the past three years Ken Taylor and I have put on a weekly radio program in San Francisco, “Philosophy Talk,” in which we discuss all sorts of issues philosophically, most far beyond the areas of expertise that either of us possess. We are joined by philosophers from all over the world, mostly by telephone, who do know something about the topic at hand; some are famous, many I had not heard of before. I have been struck by the depth and breadth of relentlessly questioning our inherited habits and painstakingly elaboration of how things could be different is going on by philosophers of all sorts on all sorts of topics. I am inevitably stuck by what a great contribution this or that person must be making to students and colleagues at their university.

Every so often I read that there are more scientists alive today that there have been in all the history of the world up until now. I suppose the same must be true with philosophers. There seems to be a lot of philosophy going on. When I was a graduate student, forty-five years ago, one could pretty much keep track of the new books that were published, at least in English, and one didn’t even feel terrifically overwhelmed by the number of journals and articles. Now there seem to be as many books coming out each month, as there were articles then. At the APA conventions, in the reviews, at some bookstores with good philosophy collections, one sees more interesting looking books that one could possibly read.

The old codger in me is tempted to suppose that this is because standards have fallen since I was a boy, and besides word-processors have unleashed floods of drivel. But that doesn’t really seem to be the explanation. An enormous percentage of these books and a good percentage of the even more overwhelming number of articles that are published, seem to be, when one digs into them, interesting contributions to interesting topics. And, unless my perceptions are totally off, I think the more or less continentally inspired books are getting more rigorous, and the more or less analytically inspired ones are getting more adventurous.

I am a pessimist about almost everything. We inhabit a fragile planet, which has been warm enough for a couple of thousand years to produce philosophers, but is now doomed, due to our folly, to get too hot, and then, because of the remorseless uncaring cycles of sun and earth, get too cold. Space travel isn’t going to work. The American government, run by mediocre minds and mean spirits for much of its history, has sunk to new lows. There are too many people. Universities sell out. Women will always prefer undeserving men, and men will always prefer undeserving women. More animals suffer every year to produce a less inspired cuisine.

所有的文化，包括哲学，都是大自然的一个巨大诡计，打破了痛苦和快乐之间的自然联系，以及大自然母亲所关心的事情----一个物种的繁殖服务于另一个物种的消化需求，在很大程度上，并利用它们为我们自己的目的。大自然母亲最终会跟上潮流，重新彰显自己。但就目前而言，如果一个人生活在一个自由的社会，或者至少是一个允许哲学家们读他们想读的书、说他们想说的东西的社会，如果一个人能找到一份工作或一份津贴，这是一个哲学家的美好时代:有这么多可读的东西，有这么多可想的东西，有这么多可写的东西，有这么多地方可以向任何愿意阅读或倾听的人展示自己的思想。该怎么办呢?AsTopoisay, it’s a delightful activity. Read, talk, write, enjoy.