Ken Taylor Tribute

Josh Landy
Welcome to Philosophy Talk the program that questions everything…

John Perry
…except your intelligence. I’m John Perry.

Debra Satz
I’m Debra Satz.

Josh Landy
And I’m Josh Landy. We’re coming to you from the studios of KALW San Francisco.

John Perry
Continuing conversations that begin at Philosophers Corner on the Stanford campus, where I taught philosophy for 40 or so years.

Debra Satz
and where I still teach occasionally, while also serving as Dean of Humanities and Sciences.

Josh Landy
and where I direct the Philosophy and Literature Initiative.

John Perry
Today we’re remembering our dear friend, colleague and co host Ken Taylor. Ken died in early December. Really devastating, hard to talk about. It wasn’t anything we expected and it’s a hole in the universe as far as I’m concerned. Ken is survived by his wife, Claire, his son, Kiyoshi young man just graduating from college. His parents, Sam and Sarita are still alive. His siblings Daniel and Diane and many nieces, nephews, cousins, aunts and uncles, one can only imagine from the co-hosts’ relationship and the big role he played in our lives just in virtue of that what what it would be like to have such a powerful person as a spouse of father, brother. He was just an amazing guy. And we’re thinking not only of our loss, but all of their loss today.

Josh Landy
Yeah. And I’m really happy to have both you and Debra back in the studio today to talk about him and celebrate his memory, even though obviously, I’d prefer it to be under less heartbreaking circumstances.

Debra Satz
Thanks, Josh. It’s good to be here. But it’s really devastating that we lost Ken so early. And so unexpectedly.

John Perry
I feel it’s clear. I mean, I was stunned by the news. You’re always shocked when somebody dies, that what, from my point of view is, you know, she’s young age, barely post pubescent 65. But can I mean, it was more like, you know, a star has gone from the planet, or maybe the moon. I mean, he was so full of energy, and became such a part of so many lives. I mean, I never expected I would be here in a studio paying tribute to him. It was not his turn to die.

Debra Satz
So thinking back, I, John, you and can really kind of launched Philosophy Talk in 2004. Is that right?

John Perry
Well, that’s, that’s when we first got on the air. Philosophy Talk was, I admit, my idea after listening to to two Car Talk. Christ, if people can be interested in cars, mixed with a little humor and back and forth. Surely they could be interested in philosophy. I mean, come on. And so I approached various people with the idea, first of all, my friend, David Israel, because we kind of had a nice thing when we got to conversing. Lots of jokes, lots of humor. And he said, You’re crazy. Then maybe Michael Braben, who said, Oh, well, great idea. No thanks. And then it was on hold. And then you know, we hired Ken, I got to know him. And one day I said, expecting another turn down, hey, Ken, I’ve got this idea. And he said, That’s a terrific idea. And boom, things begin to happen.

Debra Satz
And you two were such a great team. You really did get the Car Talk mentality, but around things that are really important.

John Perry
So you think how proper names work is more important than how your transmission is?

Debra Satz
In the big picture? Yes.

Josh Landy
That wasn’t all you talked about. Well, what did you all talk about? I mean, you know, democracy and freedom and free will, prostitution, censorship.

John Perry
Yeah, you know, you name it, We talked about.

Debra Satz
You questioned everything.

John Perry
We questioned everything except your intelligence. And of course, we questioned each other’s intelligence.

Josh Landy
What do you remember most thinking about working with Ken?

John Perry
Well, first, a great sense of relief that such a determined, thoughtful, ambitious, hardworking person had seized on this idea and unlike I ever would have was going to make something of it.

Josh Landy
I think about the work that this show—not today, obviously, but the show normally begins with a dialogue between the two hosts. You know, it was five minutes of just sheer intellectual horsepower. But again, for a broad audience like super clear, engaging, inspiring, funny, and he was always willing to put in any work that It took to make those five minutes.

Debra Satz
Yeah I mean, one thing that was always striking to me is, and this has a very positive side and sometimes a downside. When he got his head around something he would not give up. So he would press Guess who tried to avoid questions or his co host who was trying to avoid answering a question, he would not let up. And that was a kind of there was a kind of relentlessness that was really engaging because he was trying to figure out and get things right.

John Perry
Ken was really brilliant. Because after we hired him, I knew he was an up and coming philosopher of language and so forth. But I used a textbook he’d already published on the philosophy of language in my philosophy of language course. And my God, it was amazing and and reflecting. This is a kid from Sandusky, who went to Notre Dame, but he didn’t kind of spend his time at Notre Dame totally in philosophy took some kind of great books program. And then he just ends up after his stint with Leonard lynskey at Chicago. But he doesn’t just know Leonard Lewinsky’s views, he knows everything. He’s got the whole thing figured out. It just, it’s just amazing. And then, you know, of course, that was a textbook and he went on to write very creative books. It was just what a mind.

Debra Satz
I mean, one thing about Ken relates to this, knowing everything is he was voracious, he was curious about everything, you know. So sometimes somebody would say something, and I would think of, you know, why pursue that? Let’s let that go. He would, you know, if he thought he had something to learn, or that listeners had something to learn, he would pursue things. And that made him a great conversationalist. Because he talked a lot, but he also listened. And he was also looking for well, what can I use from what you’re saying? How would this change what I think?

Josh Landy
I love that I love the adjective, voracious. I mean, it just seems exactly right, that he, you know, he, there’s a lovely interview with him online, where he talks about his childhood and how he loved going to school. And he wanted to learn everything. They want to know how everything worked, and and that I think, may be true throughout his life. He was fascinated by everything. It wasn’t just what—was your example that you know, proper names?

John Perry
Yeah, it wasn’t just fascinating things like that.

Josh Landy
It wasn’t just fascinating things like that. It was encount carburetors. But, you know, artificial intelligence and, and psychology and TV. And you know, he was wonderful on what I think of is my subject, right? It’s just fantastic talking about fiction. I mean, there was nothing he couldn’t say something interesting, right.

Debra Satz
And, you know, my subject, political philosophy. I mean, he was constantly having insights about the political world, and a lot of his blogging and conversation took the form of trying to understand what’s happening to our democracy, and where’s the, what’s the role of reason and truth in, or the lack of reason and truth in the degradation of our democracy, and that so that he was very concerned about, and I think of this show, and of Ken’s life and work, as a, you know, pursuing a commitment to the idea of truth, that you know, that evidence matters, that argument matters, that some arguments are better than others. But it’s a lot of things are really complicated. And we don’t always know exactly what’s true. And also that he had a commitment to conversation, to discovery together, not just the philosopher in their room, contemplating the universe from their own perspective, but he was very interested in, you know, How do other people think about this? Why do they think about it in a different way than I do? What can I learn from them that they see something in a different way than I do.

Josh Landy
Right and ultimately, I mean, I found his political stance, this fascinating mix of optimism and pessimism, like the rest of us are very worried about where things might be heading. But at the same time, he also had the sense, I love the way you put it down right now that that if we were able to talk to each other, if we’re able to talk to each other reasonably and listen, and rely on evidence and good arguments and maybe change our minds, then maybe there’s hope for our society.

John Perry
A big “if.” Ken was very seldom rendered speechless. The one time I remember we had a Christian theist on our program, and we were discussing the problem of evil. And one of us said, Well, how should Jews feel about the Holocaust, being part of God’s plan for the best of all possible worlds? And our guests said, well, they should be very grateful that I had this chance to witness something about his plan, who, and Ken was speechless. And I had to say something, at least that’s how I remember it. And that was unique.

Josh Landy
You’re listening to Philosophy Talk. Today, we’re making a very special tribute to our late friend and colleague and co host, Ken Taylor. So we were just talking a moment ago about Ken’s many virtues that made him such an amazing, amazing radio host. What about as a colleague, you know, the 25 years or so that you had him as a Stanford colleague?

Debra Satz
One of the things that can really to me It stood for is he really cared about creating public goods. So he wasn’t, I mean, he had a research agenda. But he was the chair of the philosophy department, he chaired the program we have in symbolic systems, he was on the faculty senate year after a year, one of the most important voices, he was an inspiring teacher. Not only, you know, was he very clear, and engaging, but he was incredibly funny. And I’ve, you know, seen pictures of him dressed up, you know, as figures from the historical past, whether it’s Plato or Socrates, and he, you know, completely captivated, you know, 1000s of students over the years,

Josh Landy
That’s one thing I think about all the time, and it’s, you know, a measure of how much not just I’m gonna miss him, but I think we’re all gonna miss him and these generations of students that, whose lives he’s transformed, and unfortunately, the students, he won’t get the opportunity to reach in that way. What’s the thing you think you’re gonna miss the most?

John Perry
Well, Ken was kind of a constant, right? It’s very reliable, but I had written something, I could give it to Ken, he would read it. And he wouldn’t sugarcoat his criticisms, but he wouldn’t go out of his way to be negative, and he would do it quickly and sincerely, he was there, you could count on his energy, you could count on his opinions. So I’ll just I mean, you know, it’s just a big, someone who was there in a zillion different ways. When I heard he had died, it was not like, it wasn’t just a friend who’s died. It was kind of like, the moon isn’t there. Hard to really grapple with.

Josh Landy
And as a voice for all the things ever was talking about the voice for autonomy as a voice for freedom as a voice for equality, anti racism as a voice for truth and discourse and listening. Guys, you know, there, there’s no one like him.

Debra Satz
It’s a huge, really huge loss for all of us.

John Perry
You’re listening to Philosophy Talk. Today, we’re remembering our late colleague and co-host, Ken Taylor.

Josh Landy
In our next segment, John and I will talk to two philosophers who studied with Ken: Manuel Vargas, who now teaches philosophy at the University of California, San Diego, and our very own Laura Maguire, Philosophy Talk’s Director of Research.

John Perry
Ken Taylor and his influence—when Philosophy Talk continues.

Josh Landy
Welcome back. It’s a special edition of Philosophy Talk, a tribute to our late friend and colleague, Ken Taylor. I’m Josh Landy.

John Perry
And I’m John Perry. Ken passed away suddenly and unexpectedly in early December. And today we’re remembering his life and work.

Josh Landy
We’re joined now by someone who worked closely with Ken for over two decades: Philosophy Talk’s own Director of Research, Laura Maguire. Hey, Laura, welcome back to the program.

Laura Maguire
Thanks, Josh.

John Perry
So Laura, you were Ken’s PhD advisee, he was your chief advisor. I guess at the time it surprised me a little because I thought of you as mostly in epistemology. And at that time, Ken is kind of squarely in philosophy of language. Do I—Is my memory wrong?

Laura Maguire
Yeah. Your memory is wrong.

John Perry
Well, how surprising. What was the topic of your dissertation?

Laura Maguire
Well, I started off thinking about the rule following problem crypkey, that kind of thing. And then it kind of evolved from there after I read Brandon’s making it explicit.

Josh Landy
Can you tell us a little bit about what Ken was like as an advisor? Was he more of you know, tough love type or more the encouraging type?

Laura Maguire
Ken very adaptable, I would say as an advisor. He had very different approaches, depending on his advisee so I was having a pretty hard time in grad school, some things that happened and I got I kind of fell behind and work and was just kind of struggling and really felt like I just couldn’t do it. I wasn’t good. cut out for it. I wasn’t smart enough, all these things. And I would not have done it without Ken. Ken was extremely supportive. And there were so many times I would sit in his office and I’d be on the verge of tears or actually crying. And can you say, You know what, Laura, there are some graduate students that have way too much confidence in, you know, he would name some names, which I won’t do. And there are some who don’t have enough, and you’re in that latter camp. So he felt it was his job to like, boost my confidence to make me believe in myself to make me believe I could finish my PhD. So I have can’t thank for that, for sure.

Josh Landy
And so then after that you and Ken kept working together, right? I mean, yeah, of teaching together.

Laura Maguire
Yeah, that’s right. So I worked in the i home program, as it was called Introduction to humanities, which is a freshman humanities course that all freshmen at Stanford had to do a full year of humanities. And canon, I worked on several teaching teams together during that time for quite a number of years.

Josh Landy
So tell us a little bit about how you came to be involved in Philosophy Talk.

Laura Maguire
Well, I was a graduate student in 2004, when John and Ken started it, and I was there for the recording of the pilot episode, Ken was taking me out to celebrate finishing my PhD. So I came to the station and saw John and Ken in action. After I left the AI home program, in 2009, I took the opportunity to move to Thailand and live there for a while and I came back for a summer and then I went back to Thailand. And then I came back for a summer again, and I was kind of thinking this is what I was gonna do. And I hadn’t seen Ken in a while. And then I got a message on Facebook from him. And he told me that, for the first time, they’d gotten funding for a director of research from the University for three years. And he was really excited about this. Because before it was just he had had graduate students doing this role. But he wanted to create a position that was like professional director of research someone with a PhD. And he thought of me, after years of teaching together, he knew I had the cat herding skills that might come in handy. So I said, that sounds great. I’ll apply for that. And I applied, and then I was shortlisted for interview, and then I got the job and decided I was not gonna move back to Thailand, I was gonna stick around.

John Perry
So it was just like, Can early in Philosophy Talk, he discovered that you could get money from the university, to hire undergraduates to help you with projects. And so we could hire some undergraduates who then come up with ideas about what our program should be about, and who should be the guests. And I was, of course, semi enthused, I said, Oh, well, like most of your ideas, that means more work. At least it doesn’t cost more money. And then he figured out Oh, but if we hire a Director of Research, then we can have both. But it turned out, of course, to be a very, very good thing. They undergraduates come up with lots of ideas. And once Laura took over, it really has been running smoothly. Every sense because she’s got this ability to deal with undergraduates and to deal with obnoxious senior colleagues.

Josh Landy
So what are a couple of things when you think about Ken, what are a couple of things that come to mind?

Laura Maguire
You know, Cam loves to tell stories love to tell funny story. And this is an event that I would not have remembered, except for Ken, just loving to tell the story. So the story is that when I was a graduate student finishing up, I did something that most graduate students do. I went on the job market to apply for a tenure track job. And then in the new year, I got called back to one university. So it went pretty well. I came back and the story that cam likes to tell is that he was in the lounge of the philosophy department one day, and I come running in and I’m so happy and I’m so excited and I’m like can can can guess what? And he just thought this was so hilarious and so perverse because I am delighted not to get it. I was delighted not to get the job.

John Perry
So over the years, I thought I was chairman when we hired Ken, who I really pushed for back in 1995, I guess. Yeah. And so I knew him for a long time. There was a core to Ken that did didn’t change. But a lot didn’t change, his interest really broadened. He was talking about all sorts of things. It’s got some unfinished stuff that we’ll try to work on. What did you think? What did you see over the years?

Laura Maguire
I think doing Philosophy Talk just broadened his horizons so much, because every week, he had to sound like he knew something about a different topic. And, you know, we tackled so many different topics. Some of it is, you know, the kind of core philosophical questions that philosophers think about a lot, but a lot of it was also inspired by current events. And I think that’s one of the areas where his thinking really developed, he became very interested in developing political theory, which was a new thing. And of course, was planning, he was just finishing this book up, that he’d been working on for many years. And once that was done, he was planning on writing another book about American politics, which, unfortunately, farewell to the Republic. So that was definitely a development and Ken’s thinking I witnessed over the years.

John Perry
We could get quite a bit of that content if we had his Facebook.

Laura Maguire
Well, last year, I had the idea to use some of the stuff Ken had written about the Republic at American politics, to play an April Fool’s Day joke on people. So I took some of the stuff you’d written on Facebook, and I put it together in a blog post announcing Ken’s candidacy for the presidential 2020 Raise. And I’ve always amazed that how COBOL some people are a lot of people were were cheering, saying, yay, can 2020 I’m ready to vote for him. So I thought that was kind of funny.

Josh Landy
So yes, Laura, thanks so much for sharing some of your stories of your long years working with Kim with us. It’s been a pleasure having you today.

Laura Maguire
Thanks, Josh.

John Perry
And it’s been great working with you all these years. And great talking to you today.

Laura Maguire
You too, John.ra

John Perry
And I’m so glad you didn’t get that job.

Josh Landy
Philosophy Talk’s Director of Research, Laura Maguire, remembering her friend and philosophical mentor, Ken Taylor. You’re listening to a special edition of Philosophy Talk, honoring our late co-host.

John Perry
We’re joined now by another one of the many minds Ken helped shape over the years, Manuel Vargas. He’s professor of philosophy at the University of California, San Diego, and was a guest on Philosophy Talk back in 2008. Manuel, welcome back to the program.

Manuel Vargas
Thank you for having me.

Josh Landy
So you were a student at Stanford, I’m sure you must have worked with Ken, tell us a little bit about that.

Manuel Vargas
First, build a time machine go back to Stanford in the mid 90s. And it was a terrific time to be a graduate student, in part because there was this kind of dynamic, interesting, fascinating department, lots of people doing really cool and interesting work. And, and one of the figures that sort of loomed especially large for the graduate students was, was this guy, Ken Taylor, who seemed to have views about everything, was happy to argue and wrestle the arguments on nearly any topic. And, and everybody got a huge kick out of his grad seminars and hearing a minute in colloquium colloquia talk and talks in the department. And he was just a kind of tremendous resource, in part because it really didn’t almost matter what you were working on, it felt like he was going to be able to add something to your committee. And so I think at the time, he was a dissertation committee member for something like nine or 10 students in the department, it was now being on the other side. That’s just obviously crazy on the face of it to be working with that many graduate students, but, but he did, and in part because it felt like in many ways, the universal philosopher.

John Perry
Now, as I remember your dissertation, it wasn’t exactly an Ken’s major concern at that time, which was still the philosophy of language. So it was was that a problem or, or just something he enjoyed?

Manuel Vargas
I have no idea whether or not he enjoyed it. But he, he foolishly agreed to be on this committee that was on an in a dissertation on in an area that he didn’t do any work in. And but you wouldn’t have known it. I mean, he had these very elaborately worked out views about how to think about what compatibilism was, how to think about what freewill was, what methodologically was the good and bad versions of these things. And so I think he played this super outsized role in the formation of my own philosophical sensibilities, I think, is what I might sort of construe broadly as a kind of naturalistic humanism kind of concern for the way in which the sciences can inform our understanding about human beings and how good and thoughtful philosophical work was oftentimes going to be in conversation with developments. And in many of the sciences, especially the social sciences and the mind sciences. I think I hadn’t quite realized at the time how huge an impact that had on my general subsequent philosophical sensibilities, and it wasn’t until partly thinking about this program, and I went back and after he passed it, then spent the weekend reading a battery of his essays that I thought to myself, Oh, my gosh, this is that he’s articulating all these things I’ve sort of incorrectly thought and believed for a long time. And then I thought to myself, Why did I think and believe these things? And then it was like, Well, I guess I probably picked up a whole bunch of this just from those years of being in his seminars, and being a TA for him and having him on my committee and all that sort of that sort of thing.

Josh Landy
And let’s talk a little bit about some of his ideas. You and I men have been talking a little bit about two or three of these papers. One’s called charging the landscape of reason. They’re called How to vanquish the lingering shadow of the long dead god, he had some great titles. And a third we could talk about is neither a populace nor a Vanguard is B, I mean, this cluster of essays around the question of how to live and how we how if at all, we could ground our, our morals or principles. Do you want to tell us a little bit about that? cluster of essays?

Manuel Vargas
Yeah, so this is one of the things I thought was super cool about the way these different papers that look like they’re all about distinct projects pulled together in a way that turns on something like the following thought across this collection of papers, we’re talking about where the thought goes something like, look, reason doesn’t guarantee convergence. And you might be reasoning well, and I might be reasoning Well, and that’s not going to give us convergence either from where we happen to be standing in our own cultural and historical sequence of events. But also, the universe at large, as you know, doesn’t give us doesn’t give us a resolution so we could despair. That’s an option. But it wasn’t at all attempting one to Ken. And instead, what he calls on us to do is to take the possibility of, in some sense, democratic discourse, and I mean, not necessarily, it doesn’t have to be limited to politics, but democratic discourse in the sense of recognizing that other people are going to be sources of reason. And then we have to do what he called the messy retail business, of making the case for the kinds of norms or reasons that matter to us, and to try to recognize the rational abilities of other people might diverge from our own kinds of conclusions about what they what they give us, but that we should pursue the attempt anyway, to try to bring our frameworks into alignment as much as we can, without any promise that they will come together. But yeah,

Josh Landy
one thing I really loved about his views, it seems like a kind of Goldilocks See, position, right? So that, you know, it’s it’s not great if your culture is Riven with mutual disdain, which he thinks is our current situation. But at the same time, we shouldn’t ask for, you know, we shouldn’t hope for mutual affirmation where everyone’s constantly going around telling each other, they’re wonderful, and everything they’re doing is great.

John Perry
That’s a really good point, Josh.

Josh Landy
Thank you. John. Said that really well.

John Perry
Oh, good. And it’s so nice to hear from you that you like the way I made my last day.

Josh Landy
But in the middle, right, Ken proposes begrudging tolerance, right? We’ve, we’re not gonna love everything that people who disagree with us are up to or believe in, but we’ve got to at least tolerate them. What do you think about that way of thinking about things?

Manuel Vargas
So I really like the thought that there’s no promise that it’s going to work out. And I really agree that one of the big challenges for modern pluralistic communities, where folks can disagree about a whole lot of different things is that we’re only going to get what what psychologists sometimes called Social binding or kind of shared sense of community and project and willingness to give up some goodies on behalf of a larger hole. We’re only going to get that if, if we can live without open disdain for all and everybody who disagrees with us. So all of that seems to me. Right? And compelling and super interesting about Ken’s project. One of the things I think is a challenge for some of these kinds of things and I think this is part of what’s so interesting and compelling about Ken’s represented representation of this that kind of begrudging tolerance idea is that that, it’s gonna turn out that you want more than mere tolerance, right? So it’s got to be more than mere tolerance. But it has to be something like the thought that you’re open to the possibility that by engaging with other people, maybe you will come to see what your reasons are as different than they were before you started talking to other people. And that’s the optimism. That’s the piece that I think—

Josh Landy
Maybe you’ll learn something, maybe you’ll see you weren’t right about everything. And at the very least, you’ll see that your way of doing things is not the only possible rational way of doing things. That’s right, man. Well, thanks so much for joining us today.

Manuel Vargas
It’s been a pleasure. Thanks so much. And I really appreciate the opportunity to talk to one of my favorite philosophers and and to reflect a little bit about the the wonderful contributions of Ken to the philosophical community. So he was a mentor for a lot of us and and he will be missed.

John Perry
Manuel Vargas, professor of philosophy at UC San Diego, a former student of Ken’s. This is a special edition of Philosophy Talk, remembering our friend and colleague Ken Taylor, who passed away very suddenly in early December.

Josh Landy
Coming up, we’ll hear more from the many people whose lives can touch during his remarkable career as philosopher, teacher, and radio host.

John Perry
Testimonials to Ken, when Philosophy Talk continues.

It’s a special tribute to our late friend and colleague, Ken Taylor. I’m John Perry. This is Philosophy Talk, the program that questions everything…

Josh Landy
…except your intelligence. I’m Josh Landy. And we’re remembering Philosophy Talk’s co-creator, chief cheerleader and guiding light.

John Perry
There’s no way we could talk to everyone who has something interesting to say about Ken. So many college students and friends have wonderful stories and anecdotes and compliments to share. But we ask as many as we could record a brief testimonial. Here’s what they had to say.

Alison Gopnik
I’m Alison Gopnik. I’m a professor of psychology and affiliate professor of philosophy at the University of California Berkeley. And I was lucky enough to be a co host with Ken several times on Philosophy Talk and a friend of Philosophy Talk in general. Ken was one of the funniest, most passionate and most really philosophical philosophers I know. He understood the fundamental thing about philosophy, which was always being critical, always arguing and yet also always being open to new ideas. The slogan of Philosophy Talk, we question everything except your intelligence. That was the essence of what Ken was all about. And we’ll miss him terribly.

Anthony Appiah
I’m Kwame Anthony Appiah, professor of philosophy and law at NYU. Like all of us, I was devastated there, Ken Taylor’s untimely death. I’ve known him as a professional colleague for decades now. And I’ve always admired his philosophical acuity, his engagement with issues of importance for everyone, inside and outside professional philosophy, which he demonstrated, of course, through his work for philosophy. He was splendidly skeptical of conventional parties, believing I think that the point of philosophy was to look at the world full on, do your best to say honestly, what you saw, for better or worse, he’ll be sorely missed.

Susan Schneider
This is Susan Schneider from the University of Connecticut. Hi, Ken, I’m, I’m talking to you, but you’ve passed away. And it’s terrible. We were just together a few weeks ago, we did a wonderful episode of Philosophy Talk with Josh. And I wanted to get together with you again for coffee. And I just read your paper on AI, which I thought was just so spectacular. And then we all just learned that you finished a book, which we were all looking forward to. We don’t know what comes next. But I hope there’s something and I hope you’re thinking about deep issues there too.

David Livingstone Smith
My name is David Livingston Smith, professor of philosophy at the University of New England. And you can as a colleague, and as a regular contributor to The Philosophy Talk blog. There was something inherently lovable about Ken. When we met at conferences, I would without thinking twice, put my arm around his broad shoulders. As we walked along together. Ken was a kind, generous, spirited and gentle man with a robust sense of reality. He was a formidable philosopher, and a powerhouse presenter. Incredibly eloquent and incisive. I will miss him greatly, and our profession will be much the poorer for his passing.

Jenann Ismael
I’m Jenann Ismael from Columbia University. I’ve known canon since 1996. When I came to Stanford as a postdoc, we became friends Almost immediately had dinner almost once a week for the two years I was there. And we stayed friends for all the years. Every time you saw Ken, whether it was once a year or once a week, it was always like, we had all of him at once there was a kind of immediacy and completeness and dissatisfying this about it. And it was so characteristic of him and everything he never had anything that was one of the most alive people I knew. And it seems he was just stopped or arrested mid step, kind of in full motion. For can your garden far, far too soon, but you leave behind so much. And I hope you knew what you are though.

David Eagleman
I’m David Eagleman. I’m a neuroscientist at Stanford. Ken was the type of person who was always thrilled to ask questions. And with his intelligence, matched only by his enthusiasm. He was a real force of nature. He was an exemplar of the kind of teacher that you want on a campus and he was a wonderful human being, we’re really going to miss him.

Rebecca Goldstein
I’m Rebecca Goldstein. I’m a writer. I knew Ken mostly from being on philosophy talks, everal terms. I admired him and what he was doing for philosophy, a great deal. His warmth and humor, coupled with his acutely critical intelligence, presented the face of philosophy at its best.

Michael Lynch
This is Michael Lynch from UConn. Ken was a brilliant philosopher of language, but he was also someone who knew how to talk about ideas, you know, without pretension, and a fantastic sense of humor. This is what made it so fun to be on to philosophy talk with him. He found the humanity not just in his listeners, but in philosophy itself.

Julie Napolin
I’m Julie Napolin, the author of the fact of resonance, I’ve always loved Philosophy Talk for it’s impossible premise. We think that philosophy is something that you do alone and in silence. But that’s not the case. It’s something that we do together. And for me can always embody that impossible premise. For Ken, there was no problem that couldn’t be talked about. He had this rare magnanimity of thought. Philosophy isn’t about shutting out everything until you find a place of non contradiction. It’s about letting the world in as much as possible, and up to the point that there’s no distinction between philosophizing and living.

Lynne Tirrell
I’m Lynne Tirrell from UConn. I first met Ken in 1986, when he was leaving UNC and I was just arriving. The last time I saw Ken was that his 2017 Pacific APA presidential address. He took that well deserved honor and stride not feeding his ego but as an opportunity to serve an organization crucial to philosophies future. Ken saw reason as an a quote, a distributed power resonant in a diverse array of localized voices spreading over a sprawling variegated ever unfolding landscape. A Conversation with Ken never felt like a contest, but rather a talking with even across serious differences. What a special gift.

Jorah Dannenberg
I’m Jorah Dannenberg, I teach philosophy at Stanford. Ken was my colleague, and my friend, Ken was such a, an enormous and powerful presence in all of our lives. And I’m going to miss him so much. He was so warm and funny and kind to everybody. And he was also just such an amazing philosopher such an intellectual force. I learned so much from talking with him about my own work about just about every other part of philosophy from listening to the radio show over the years. I just can’t say enough how, how much of a loss it is to have to say goodbye to him.

Anna-Sara Malmgren
My name is Anna-Sara Malmgren. I’m in the Stanford philosophy department. And I’ve known Ken since I came in 2011. Ken was a terrific colleague and human being. Academia can be pretty cold, but Ken was not. He was so open minded and so open hearted. And it was a wonderful philosophical sparring partner, so much fun and stimulating to argue with. I’m so grateful to him, and to have known him, and endlessly sad that he’s gone.

Neil van Leeuwen
This is Neil van Leeuwen. I’ve been a part of Philosophy Talk for almost as long as I’ve been a philosopher. I was first director of research for Philosophy Talk, and I was really close with Ken there. And I’ve been a blogger for Philosophy Talk ever since and I’m really going to miss Ken. And not only was he my mentor in Philosophy Talk, he was also my PhD advisor at Stanford. This loss has hit me really hard, but I’m always gonna say that I’m proud to have worked with Ken Taylor.

Karola Kreitmair
My name is Karola Kreitmair. I’m a professor of bioethics at UW Madison. Ken wasn’t only my teacher and my dissertation advisor, Ken and I shared a passion for theater years ago. When Ken found out that I write plays, he, maybe contrary to his better judgment, agreed to act and one of them and he threw himself into that role. I will never forget how the audience just delighted in his performance of a loquacious small town mayor, and can owned that stage with his presence and his humor. Can I truly believe that the project that is thrust upon you is that you have to fashion yourself, you have to create yourself. And that’s what Ken did and through what he taught and through how he led by example, he inspired many, including me to aspire to that too. I’m missing very much.

Josh Landy
You’re listening to Philosophy Talk’s special tribute to Ken Taylor. Let’s hear more from Ken’s friends and fans.

Ruth Starkman
My name is Ruth Starkman. And I had the honor of teaching with Professor Ken Taylor a freshman philosophy course called recognizing the self and its possibilities. Here are freshmen thanking Professor Taylor. Many identify themselves as FLI, which stands for First-Gen Low-Income.

Speaker 11
Hi, my name is Maryam Halil. And I want to thank Professor Taylor for showing each individual and his class the intricate beauty of searching for meaning in our own way through creating an environment where the two simple words be free transcend into us experiencing ourselves.

Speaker 18
My name is Malaysia Atwater, I just wanted to say thank you to Professor Taylor for challenging us to think critically, to communicate our ideas effectively and deliver live with purpose.

Speaker 20
Hi, my name is Alison Argueata. I’m a fly student. And I want to thank Professor Taylor, for forcing myself to challenge my beliefs and forgiving me the first real opportunity to reflect on these deep ideas.

Speaker 5
Hi, I’m Angel Elise. Professor Taylor, thank you for teaching me to refer ownership for teaching me to independently think and formulate my own ideas. Thank you for teaching me to constantly question my beliefs. These things go way beyond the course and I will carry them with me further.

Speaker 13
Hi, my name is Victor Cardenas. And I want to thank Professor Taylor for challenging my conceptions of the world for talking to me after class about my esoteric definitions of happiness, and for his very clever game of thrones references.

Unknown Speaker
Hi, my name is Rishi Gupta. Thank you Professor Taylor forpushing me to question everything, strive for the truth and reflect deeply.

Speaker 15
Hi, my name is Jessica Oakafore. I want to say thank you Professor Taylor for teaching me how to exude confidence on days where I feel far from it.

Speaker 14
Hi, my name is Audrey. I’m also a FLI student. And thank you Professor Taylor for teaching us to the importance to be free and teaching us to read for ownership, and that we should own our life. Hi, my

Speaker 20
My name is Charlie Hoffs. Thank you Professor Taylor, for empowering me to be and continue to become a complex and profound thinker.

Speaker 15
Hi, my name is Linton. I’m a FLI student. And I want to thank Professor Taylor for being just an exemplary black leader in particular, and showing what it means to lead as a black man. And well how blackness can be a strength rather than a weakness in a world that sees it as one.

Speaker 9
Hi, my name is Nicole Lee. And thank you, Professor Taylor, for teaching me how to be responsible with my own freedom.

Karola Kreitmair
Hi, my name is Rachel. And I just want to say thank you to Professor Taylor for changing the way I see the world and the way I live my life.

Speaker 13
Hi, my name is Luke. And thank you, Professor Taylor for teaching me that getting an education should be fun, and for always pushing me to become my best self.

Speaker 6
Hi, my name is Emily Nichols. And I thank Professor Taylor for teaching me how to live with internal meaning and purpose. Thank you for teaching me that even though I am a black fly student. I can do anything as long as I believe it recognize myself to subjectivity, rest and power.

Speaker 8
Hi, my name is Lizzie and I am also FLI student and I just wanted to thank Professor Taylor for teaching me to assert myself not only my life but in the university as well.

Speaker 9
Hi, my name is Laura Jacqueline. I’m also a FLI student and I just want to thank Professor Taylor for never giving us an easy answer for teaching me how to think for myself and join me that fly students can change the world because he definitely did.

Speaker 20
Hi, my name is Caitlin Harold and I wanted to thank Professor Taylor for helping me develop new ways of thinking and grows both a student and a person.

Speaker 19
My name is Rayuve and I wanted to thank Professor Taylor for encouraging us to seek discomfort in our beliefs in the best possible way. Thank you for encouraging us to think about the world more deeply.

Speaker 21
My name is Alicia Spires. And I wanted to thank Professor Taylor for showing me how to thoughtfully challenge my beliefs and think critically about my life and my decisions.

Speaker 5
Hi, my name is Eshawn and I wanted to thank Professor Taylor for showing me what the raw authentic passion for truth and passion for understanding and breaking down arguments looks like.

Speaker 17
My name is Biswas and I would like to thank Professor Taylor for inspiring me to search for my own answers.

Speaker 22
Hi, my name is Fahad. Thank you, Professor Taylor for introducing me to a unique and nuanced way of reasoning about the world around me.

Speaker 23
My name is Christian Sokol. I’m also a FLI student on campus. I would like to thank Professor Taylor in guiding me to living a more meaningful life not just for myself, but for others around me as well.

Karola Kreitmair
Hi, my name is Zahra. And I want to thank Professor Taylor for teaching me how to listen how to how to question to appear to be self evident.

Speaker 24
Hi, my name is Drove Somofthee. I just wanted to thank Professor Taylor for teaching me how to question my beliefs and appreciate debate in every respect, and for always filling every room your presence.

Speaker 25
Hi, my name is Jose Luis Gandhara. Thank you, Professor Taylor for making me feel empowered to live my life as an outward reflection of the inward truth of who I am. You’ve taught me to slay the joining other and given me the sword to do it.

Speaker 26
Hi, my name is Julia Kwak. Professor Taylor, thank you for teaching me to notice the presence of philosophy in every part of my life, and for giving me warm and comforting hugs.

Speaker 17
Hi, my name is John Tirico. Professor Taylor you’re such a console thank you for being an inspiration and studies and thought and in life and for indulging me in philosophy or Notre Dame football may remember that.

Josh Landy
Moving tributes indeed from such a huge legion of fans. If you miss Ken as much as we do, please feel free to record your favorite memories on our website, philosophytalk.org.

John Perry
For those interested in making a donation in Ken’s name, you can do that at the same website. Now Ken’s family has requested that donations be made to Philosophy Talk, which was Ken’s brainchild, and we’re all sure he really want us to stay on the air.

Josh Landy
Either way, we hope you’ll join us in celebrating the legacy of a truly great friend, colleague and radio host.

John Perry
Of course, we couldn’t end the program without one last very-fast paced tribute from one of Ken’s biggest fans: Ian Shaoles the Sixty-Second Philosopher.

Ian Shoales
Ian Shoales… No matter how reasonable we view ourselves, we all have a self in mind, and that self is governed, in my opinion, by a myriad of influences over which we have no control. It’s a vicious cycle of pride and blame, fueled by reason, yes, but also by bias, raw emotions, tender emotions, and that traumatic thing that happened in the garage when we were 11. That is who we are. Sometimes on top of things, sometimes not. As an adjunct, as it were, to this program, a faux philosopher, or if you prefer, a perfessor of thinkology, here to put a humorous button on the previous hour of oftimes weighty conversation, I have been left pretty much to my own devices. But sometimes, as a joke, and because he knew it bugged me, Ken Taylor would suggest that I wear a beret at our live shows, as though I were some kind of pretentious comp lit grad student, or a flaneur, or a person who tried to be French and failed. See, I always viewed myself as more of a wisecracking fedora wearing private eye kind of guy. He apparently did not. Which is all by way of saying Ken Taylor drove me crazy sometimes. But the point is he had a vision of what the radio show should be. It was his idea, I think, to have a jazz combo at the live tapings. He was always very concerned that listeners and audience members were encouraged to participate with questions. This show was about philosophy, but philosophy in action, philosophy in presentation. The drama of it was important to him, because after all Philosophy Talk often offers theater at its most basic, two people on a stage, each taking a side and fighting for it. Well, talking for it. Also, Philosophy Talk was bringing philosophy back to its roots in the human voice and the thinking ear. And it was always a dance, of sorts, between being true to the history and nature of philosophy, and bringing that truth to sometimes the conflicting reality of radio- constraints of time, distractions, attention spans, and the temptations of rock and roll and Rush Limbaugh on either side of the dial. Such considerations can lead to many interesting collisions. Does good radio make bad philosophy? Can good philosophy make good radio? What is the essence of each and how does each affect the other? How do rhetoric and persuasion and rhythm and humor and projection and pauses effect what you are trying to say? And who are you talking to? The listening audience, or just one listener, or both? Ken explored these questions, whether wittingly or un, bringing his skills as a philosopher and as a teacher to a project in which he deeply believed, I think, part of a larger belief, in philosophy itself. I will speak for him now– and perhaps I could be wrong, I am often presumptuous, that’s part of the gig as I see it, and I think Ken would agree, if he were here — philosophy is important, it should play a bigger part in our lives, we should think about what we’re doing, think about why we’re doing it, and- as Philosophy Talk has shown- enjoy ourselves as we think. From my perspective, that is my Ken Taylor takeaway. Look listen and think. That‘s why we’re here. And why Ken Taylor will be missed. I gotta go.

John Perry
Philosophy Talk is a presentation of KALW local public radio San Francisco and the trustees of Leland Stanford Junior University, copyright 2019.

Josh Landy
Our executive producer is Tina Pamintuan.

Debra Satz
The senior producer is Devon Strolovitch. Laura Maguire is our Director of Research. Cindy Prince Bam is our Director of Marketing.

John Perry
Thanks also to Merle Kessler, Angela Johnson, and Lauren Schecter.

Josh Landy
Support for Philosophy Talk comes from various groups at Stanford University, and from the Partners at our online Community of Thinkers.

Debra Satz
The views expressed (or mis-expressed) on this program do not necessarily represent the opinions of Stanford University or or other funders.

John Perry
Not even when they’re true and reasonable. The conversation continues on our website, philosophytalk.org, where you too can become a Partner in our Community of Thinkers. I’m John Perry.

Josh Landy
I’m Josh Landy.

Debra Satz
and I’m Debra Satz. Thank you for listening.

John Perry
And thank you for thinking.

Ken Taylor
This is not going on the air, right?