In Philosophy Bites, David Edmonds and Nigel Warburton interview Sari Nusseibeh:
Host 1: We’re talking today about philosophy and conflict. But before we get into that, perhaps you can tell us a bit about your early years because you’re born into a a very famous and distinguished Palestinian family.
Guest: Yes. I was born into a family that considers itself to be distinguished. Our family name, Nasebeh, comes from the very, very distant past. It’s the name of a woman who supposedly fought alongside the prophet Muhammad. And in theory, we actually came to Jerusalem right from that time.
Guest: I was born personally in Damascus. That was during the early wars that created Israel and created, on the other hand, the Palestinian refugee problem. My parents’ mother was in Damascus. I was born there. But a year or two later after my birth, I came to Jerusalem and grew up in Jerusalem.
Host 1: And then you went to Oxford as an undergraduate at a time when Wittgenstein and linguistic philosophy more generally was dominant. Ordinary language in particular, the idea that philosophical problems as it were dissolve in the analysis of language, that’s very much gone out of fashion. But I wonder whether its influence has stayed with you, what the importance of your Oxford philosophy was.
Guest: Well, I think the primary importance has to do not with the theory of linguistics or the theory of philosophy of language as such, but with the way philosophy tutors are conducted. And in my case, I was very lucky to have as a tutor Oscar Wood. Although he did not necessarily like me, I was quite fond of him, and he has remained with me ever since. He was the kind of person who made you always search for good reasons for holding the view that you hold or the opinion that you hold. And this has stayed with me.
More here.
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