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E.W. Dijkstra Archive: On anthropomorphism in science (EWD936)

cs.utexas.edu · 2,289 words · saved by 2 readers

I must apologize for not speaking to you, but reading to you. I chose to do so because, not yet feeling quite at home, I am a bit nervous. Of course I can argue to myself that I don’t need to, but that does not always work. I can argue to myself that I grew up in a country whose population is only slightly larger than that of Texas, so why should I feel not at home? I spent most of my life at two universities, one four centuries old, the other a quarter, and if I take the geometric mean of those two ages I arrive precisely at that of UT, so why shouldn’t I feel at home here? Well, actually it is not too bad. I think I am much happier here than I would have been, say, at XXX–XXX where it is possible to lose sight of what it means to be an intellectual. The reason that I am a bit nervous is that I am not quite sure what philosophers do and, hence, somewhat uncertain about my role here. OK, so much for an irrelevant introduction; it was given to give you the opportunity to adapt your ear

E.W. Dijkstra Archive: On anthropomorphism in science (EWD936) EWD936 On anthropomorphism in science (Delivered at The Philosophers' Lunch, 25 September 1985) I must apologize for not speaking to you, but reading to you. I chose to do so because, not yet feeling quite at home, I am a bit nervous. Of course I can argue to myself that I don't need to, but that does not always work. I can argue to myself that I grew up in a country whose population is only slightly larger than that of Texas, so why should I feel not at home? I spent most of my life at two universities, one four centuries old, the

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