8th April

I don't have a philosophy, if by a philosophy you mean a set of principles and their application, or a basic unchanging attitude. I do have a philosophy in a different sense. I have a world view, but I can't spell it out, it only shows itself when I run into something that conflicts with it; it also changes and it is more an attitude than a theory unless by 'theory' you mean a story whose content is never the same.

Three Dialogues on Knowledge (Third Dialogue, 1989), Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1991. p.155

Well, if you think a philosopher is a universal dilettante who tries to see things in perspective and tries to stop people from forcing others into their beliefs, be it now by arguments or by other means of coercion, then I certainly am a philosopher - but so are journalists and playwrigths. But most of the people who call themselves philosophers today want to be 'professionals', i.e. they want to approach things in a special way and in this way secure themselves a place apart from other human activities.

Three Dialogues on Knowledge (Third Dialogue, 1989), Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1991. p.153