Malcolm v. Oxford: Evidence page 16 (original) (raw)

Malcolm _vs._Oxford University, 1986 Chancery Division Ch M. 7710

Evidence (Red) File page 16, letter from Andrew Malcolm to Angela Blackburn, 31st August 1984 (carbon copy)

TEXT:

Angela Blackburn, Oxford University Press, Walton Street, OXFORD OX2 6DP.

Dear Angela,

Following our phone conversation of yesterday [unrecorded], I enclose herewith my set of introductory material to Making Names, which together should give you a fairly good idea of what the book is like and about, without actually 'giving away' the substance of its conclusions or the imagery involved in their final dramatic expression (Chapter 8).

I realise that at first glance, Making Names probably seems to break, as you might say, every publishing rule in the book, but then haven't worthwhile philosophical works always broken the rules, in one way or another? Isn't that what philosophy ought to do? In reply to your remark about dialogue "not working nowadays", I would just point out that both of the recent (successful?) attempts on BBC 2 and Channel 4 [Men of Ideas and _Opinions_] to televise (i.e. popularise) philosophy have chosen to present it as conversation. In the case of Making Names, much of which started life as conventional philosophical essays, its transition into dialogue form has become more than just a change of presentation, but has actually added a number of fruitful new philosophical dimensions to the whole thing, as well as, I hope, making it more palatable to the general reader.

I realise too that OUP's traditional market is in academic rather than general-readership books, but I recently met someone who works for the Press (in another department) who told me that it is presently embarking on a rather more open-minded and expansionist publishing policy, and that it might be worth approaching you with my somewhat unusual work. I very much hope that this is so and that the enclosed material will interest you in reading the script itself. If so, I will be happy to send or deliver it to you on instruction.

Yours sincerely, Andrew Malcolm

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