The Thought of John Sallis: Phenomenology, Plato, Imagination

Acknowledgments

ix Acknowledgments I wrote The Thought of John Sallis: Phenomenology, Plato, Imagination in isolation over a two-year period. However, there can be no doubt that I benefited significantly from conversations with such excellent colleagues as Dennis Schmidt, Jason Wirth, Günter Figal, Sanem Yaziçioğlu, Maria Acosta, Charles Scott, Christopher Yates, Michael Rudar, and many others. The work of John Sallis has provided ongoing inspiration since I was his student at Duquesne University in the mid-1970s, and I regard the opportunity to talk with him from time to time over the last three decades as a great gift. Most of this book was written during my two and a half years at Koç University, Istanbul. I thank Sami Gülgöz, dean of social sciences and humanities , for the two summers off in 2007 and 2008. For those two summers , I thank Shannon Sullivan, philosophy department chair at Pennsylvania State University, for appointing me visiting scholar, and Dennis J. Schmidt, who graciously gave me the use of his office. It is always a pleasure to work at Penn State. I also thank James Swindal, chairperson of the Duquesne University philosophy department, for appointing me visiting scholar, the post I now occupy. My two essential librarians at Bailey Library of Slippery Rock University, Kathleen Manning and Rita McClelland , provided their usual expert and cheerful assistance. My gratitude to Jane Bunker, director of Northwestern University Press, is boundless. Her intellect, her integrity, and her commitment to excellence embody everything worthwhile that academic life has to offer. I also thank the two readers for their work and for their enthusiastic endorsement . The book is better for their suggestions. My daughter Malika Hadley Freydberg’s great spirit and her unique take on life always animate me. Finally, my wife Akiko Kotani inspires every aspect of my life and work. She is a gifted artist, an insightful commentator on imagination, a sensitive interpreter of the many John Sallis lectures she has heard, and the most wonderful partner. I dedicate this book to her. ...