a philosopher hits the big time

I’m an adherent of a very small and obscure philosophical school called “particularism.” (Of course, because I’m an academic, I have to have my own special flavor of it.) The best known particularist is Jonathan Dancy, whom I only met once but who nicely reviewed a book manuscript of mine. And his work has had a big influence on me, even though I come at things from a different angle. Anyway, unbelievable as it may seem, here he is explaining particularism on Craig Furgeson’s “Late Late Show” on CBS:

I’ve never seen his show, but this Furgeson guy strikes me as pretty smart. And Dancy does a credible job in a terrifying situation. It turns out he’s the actress Claire Danes’ father-in-law. That relationship–rather than the arguments in “Are Basic Moral Facts both Contingent and A Priori?” (2008)–may be the reason for Dancy’s new TV career. Whatever the reason, long may it prosper.