The Background: Derek Parfit is a very respected and well-known philosopher who works at All Souls College in Oxford. About 7 years ago, I wrote a manuscript and sent it to Oxford University Press (OUP) for review for possible publication. The book was about Derek Parfit's views on person-affecting beneficence, an issue in ethical theory. Anyway, they sent it to him for review. He read it and sent me many pages of comments. OUP sent me a letter stating that I needed to make revisions, and if I did that, they would review it again for possible publication.The Meeting: I took a vacation to England last summer (from the US) and ended up in Oxford. I went to All Souls College for the hell of it. As I was walking around taking pictures, a thin white-haired fellow walked by me. I have only seen one photo of Parfit, but the guy looked like Parfit to me. So I said, "Derek Parfit?" And he stopped and turned and said, "Yes." Well, I was really excited to meet him like this after all these years. I had put a lot of work in trying to understand his ideas on ethics. I introduced myself, and we exchanged a few comments. He suggested that I see the chapel nearby. I told him that I already stopped to see it. I tried to remind him about my manuscript that he had read and commented on. (He had made about 20 single-spaced pages of comments.) To my amazement, he was almost completely disinterested. He quickly nodded, said goodbye, and walked away. I was able to stop him for a picture before he got away. He put on a great smile.
