ryle, v. to give examples. “He ryles on and on without ever daring a conclusion.” Hence, n. An example. “His argument was elucidated by a variety of apt ryles.” “The original ryle has been chisholmed beyond recognition.” (2) A variety of smooth, lucid, thin ice that forms on bogs.
I chanced upon the 60th anniversary edition of The Concept of Mind (COM). COM must rank as one of my favourite pieces of literature (at least in my top ten). Yes, I use literature in the broadest sense – what distinguishes this work is that it’s the perfect marriage of the substantive with a superb writing style – amusing and non-technical, crisply argued and imaginative. I haven’t read Julia Tanney’s introduction to the 60th anniversary version but I have read Dennett’s intro to the Penguin re-issue of COM (Dennett, as most will know, was a student of Ryle – check out Ryle’s last letter to Dennett). Also check out Tanney’s Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on Ryle. Aside from COM, I particularly appreciated Ryle’s superb entry on Plato in Paul Edwards’ The Encyclopedia of Philosophy. I have a longstanding interest in Ryle and Oakeshott (see here as well.)
manwithoutqualities 