Borges and Grice

I often say they were my two mentors -- but I keep having different mentors. I suppose it's more original to have Borges as a mentor -- because I don't know anybody else who does!

I inherited the love for Borges from my milieu and my parents. I would read his essays, more often than his short-stories. His short stories bored me -- but his essays were kind of alright. This was before my serious study of philosophy. So I got to learn about Berkeley (Borges was obsessed with an account of personal identity in terms of mnemic states) and stuff before the usual course of Greek philosophy.

Borges used to say that he chose philosophical doctrines (to dwell on) on account of their 'aesthetic' value. His philosophical sympathies he inherited totally from his father, who was a true empiricist. Borges Senior lectured on William James's psychology at a local institute. More than an anglophile, he was half-English himself, Borges's father.

Borges collected books, as everybody knows. I once reviewed his bio, by Woodall, which is pretty good. It's in a paperback edition. A more reverential biography is by Williamson, whom I met -- somewhere. This Wiliamson edition is hardback and doubt it will ever be paperbacked.

Borges was the first lecturer of the J. L. Borges Memorial Lectures, which are held annually at the Anglo-Argentine Society, in Canning House, in posh Belgravia. A. S. Byatt, G. Greene, P. D. James, etc. were among the Borges lectures. I have all the proceedings which were edited by Borges's translator, T. Di Giovanni.

I have met many Borgesian scholars. Balderston seems to be my favourite. He wrote a couple of books ON Borges. One is about Strawsonian lack of reference in Borges's supposedly 'realistic' stories (At least Balderston quotes from Strawson).

But there are zillion of lit. crit. books on Borges --. Perhaps one too many.

Etc.

Compared with Grice's, Borges's philosophy of language was VERY simplistic. He only has ONE commentary, in his huge oeuvre, about what language is about -- "a system of conventional signs" -- hardly original, and wrong! --

Borges would have NOTHING to do with the group Grice belonged to, and vice versa, Grice would have nothing to do with Borges's pretentious stories (Grice rather quoted from William Golding).

Borges was a reactionary, and since he lacked a university education, he despised universities -- such as Oxford. Strangely, he is Lit. Dr. from Oxford, 'honorary' of course. I have his photography (from a book) of Borges coming out of the Sheldonian Theatre for the occasion -- it's in a book I have.

He prefered London, but in general disliked academics, and would rather talk about poets. Etc.