I went for a walk this morning, down to the Knap of Howar and then south along the cliffs trying to clear my head. I have started work again on a paper that I need to finish quite soon for a collection on teaching philosophy.

How one teaches philosophy is partly a function of what philosophy is, or, to put it less baldly, the way one teaches it must be a function of one's conception of philosophy, (and these conceptions are of course contested). But it is also partly a function of what is teachable to those who wish to be taught.

By which I mean that since it is not a matter of 'knowledge transfer', which would be, in Kierkegaardian terms, a matter of 'direct communication', then one must have regard to what a pupil is ready to receive, and even then the communication, to continue with Kierkegaard, would have to be 'indirect'. But our institutions of higher education are adapted entirely now to 'knowledge transfer' and the idea of what a pupil is 'ready to receive' would need to be spelled out in terms of a concept of 'progression' which is entirely alien to the rhythms of 'indirect communication'. Oh dear ...