Dear Professor Burgess-Jackson,

Let me tell you how much I enjoyed your essay on “Deontological Egoism,” which I discovered earlier this week when, in the course of a Google search, I found your blog. What a rich and compelling piece of work it is, from which I have learned so much. My own work in egoism reflects a certain ambivalence which your fine essay has helped me work through. In an essay on “Is Egoism Morally Defensible?” in Philosophia (1988) I criticized the attempts by Hospers and Regis to provide affirmative answers; but in a recent essay on “Casino, Friendship, and Egoism” (In The Philosophy of Martin Scorsese, ed. Mark T. Conard [University Press of Kentucky, 2007]) I’ve tried to point out misconceptions in various criticisms of egoism. Neither of these essays has the depth, thoroughness, or sheer grandeur of your piece, but I take satisfaction in noting so many points of agreement between us.

I also want to thank you for your kind and gracious words about my Southern Journal of Philosophy essay on “Ethics Without Justification” in your blog entry for 2005.

I wish I had discovered your blog at its inception, but now that I have I’ll return to it often. I particularly appreciate your political commentary and your introduction of such civility and sanity in an area of discussion badly in need of both.

Best wishes,

Steven

Steven M. Sanders
Emeritus Professor of Philosophy
Department of Philosophy
Bridgewater State College
Bridgewater, MA 02325

Note from KBJ: For every creep like Brian Leiter, who tries to destroy the careers of those with whom he disagrees, there is a gentleman like Steven Sanders, who goes out of his way to say kind words to strangers.