THE FUSE

Frankly speaking, the analytic philosopher can be a bit insufferable. Into every conversation, on any conceivable topic, he enters with a confident swagger, poised to pounce at the slightest infelicity or error on the part of his unlucky interlocutors. For any slippage or equivocation, an expression of exasperated confusion and demand for clarification at the ready. To any proposal, the impulse to counter-proposal. Talking with an analytic philosopher, one has the distinct feeling of being monitored. Every word, a potential landmine; every idea, inspected for implication and inconsistency.