What are Hermeneuts for?

The following paper retains the format in which it was delivered and discussed. With the kind permission of the Editors, I have decided to maintain this format in its rather dogmatic and telegraphic style because the responses and the conversations that followed were so very energetic and engaged. The three-hour session in which respondents and audience entered into a discussion was among the most interesting such events I have experienced in my career. It served to remind me that occasionally and with luck and generosity, real philosophical exchanges can take place in larger settings.