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Gore Vidal Was Everywhere and Now He Is Nowhere

• coldtea 3y ago
  >In Oxford, he dined with Isaiah Berlin, considered by many to be the most-respected philosopher of the time. Isaiah Berlin was absolutely not "the most-respected philosopher of the time", if this is supposed to mean "most respected as a philosopher". In Europe he was considered a lesser academic philosopher, and in the US he wasn't that important either.
  • keiferski 3y ago
    I suppose the sentence could be criticized for being slightly exaggerated, but it says, “considered by many” not “was.” Berlin has and had an excellent reputation at Oxford at the time he met Vidal. This is such a weird thing to nitpick about, honestly. The man was knighted by the Queen, he was hardly some obscure minor figure.
    • coldtea 3y ago
      Yes, it's the "considered by many" I contest, not some "was". I don't think they were enough to warrant the phrase "by many". >This is such a weird thing to nitpick about, honestly. The man was knighted by the Queen, he was hardly some obscure minor figure. Didn't say he was obscure. Just not one of the big players. I'd say he was considered of a historian of philosophy (and commentator on the history of philosophy) more than a bona fide philosopher. In any case, that part struck me as bizarre, so I commented on it. Don't have much to say about the rest of the article, it's a basic profile plus some guesses on the reasons behind the transience of Vidal's fame.