Friday, January 2, 2026

On Searle at First Things

On the Editor’s Desk podcast at First Things, Rusty Reno and I discuss John Searle and his place in contemporary philosophy. (The take-off point of our discussion is my recent article on Searle in the magazine.)

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8 comments:

  1. OA PoliceJanuary 3, 2026 at 6:48 AM

    We really owe Searle thanks for a paradigm shift in Analytical philosophy of mind, it is largely due to him and Chisholm that people were forced to take intentionality seriously. I am reading Sellars at the moment—surely the last and most sophisticated of the Anglo-Naturalist old guard and one whose works can never be read in the same way after Searle.

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  2. Paul D. Van PeltJanuary 3, 2026 at 7:47 AM

    A fascinating mind, John Searle. I recently had an exchange with one of his former students...was left with the sense that no one really knew him. I wonder who, if anyone, inherited that repeater rifle he posed with, on his lap, years ago. I thought it was an original Winchester. Or, better, a Henry. Guess I'll never know...

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    1. AnonymousJanuary 3, 2026 at 8:06 PM

      The rifle was a tubular fed .22 caliber rifle

      Delete
  3. Vini TadeoJanuary 3, 2026 at 11:46 AM

    Thanks for honoring Searle works, Ed. He surely deserve a better recognition and you are helping to honor his memory and labor in philosophy.

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  4. Tim FinlayJanuary 3, 2026 at 12:55 PM

    This was a superb interview, Ed. Excellent discussion of common language philosophy to which J L Austin and John Searle were seminal figures; and of Searle's two very important arguments against AI being genuine intelligence. Further, you discussed another of Searle's great books, The Construction of Social Reality and how it differed from "the social construction of reality" (there was a book by Peter Berger with that title, but also the view that all of reality is socially constructed is a mainstay of much postmodern thought).

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  5. Paul D. Van PeltJanuary 4, 2026 at 8:58 AM

    Dear Anon:
    You must have seen a different photo. The rifle I saw was a lever action carbine, not a tubular fed .22. I know firearms better than that. Have owned and used many, including several lever action rifles, older vintage and newer. I'm pretty hard to con on these matters. Are you real, or are you Memorex? I would almost bet you don't remember that ancient tag line, but, I don't bet much---no% in it. Item: I had a well-scoped, Marlin .22 auto when I was a kid. Squirrels everywhere paid the price. My mother's squirrel gravy was outstanding.
    Most people have not eaten squirrel meat, or any other game. Adage: don't try to outfox a fox. End of admonition...

    Happy new year.

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    1. AnonymousJanuary 4, 2026 at 2:09 PM



      "A well-known photograph of the philosopher John Searle (1932-2025) shows him posing with a rifle across his lap. This image has been a topic of discussion in philosophical circles and online forums:
      The Rifle: The firearm in the photo is a .22 caliber bolt-action rifle, typically described as a "kid's rifle" or a "plinker" used for target practice or small-game hunting (like squirrels or raccoons). It is not a large-game hunting or military weapon."
      Here is the rifle photo
      https://edwardfeser.blogspot.com/2025/11/searle-contra-deconstruction.html

      Delete
  6. Paul D. Van PeltJanuary 4, 2026 at 9:12 AM

    Well put, OA, whomever or whatever, you may be.

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