(Mary reminds us that the myth was created for 17 th century male house-holders performing their civic duty on behalf of their household: it forms part of the background picture against which female emancipation seemed to many incoherent). Two myths that no longer serve us resurface in Mary’s work repeatedly the myth which see humans as opposed to animals, and, relatedly, the myth of the social contract which pictures us all as unconnected to each other as atoms stranded in the void. "It is up to us to weave Mary’s work into our intellectual lives and in doing so make it part of a continuous shared effort to, in her words, 'make sense of this deeply puzzling world'" Philosophical argument, she writes in her last book, is more like chasing rabbits than mining for nuggets of gold. Her prose was starlit by quick and vivid turns of phrase that took thought in new directions. Mary’s exemplification of her own image of what philosophy should be and involves was peerless. And in this case what is needed is an ability not only to diagnose but to create-myth, image and metaphor. In contrast, Mary’s work, and her view of philosophy in general, was both positive and holistic while the philosopher needs something of the doggedness and rigour of the lawyer, she also needs the vision of the poet to be able to see how things connect, to understand how thought gets mired in confusion when the myths in terms of which certain concepts are intelligible no longer serve us. Work of that sort, Mary observed, is almost bound to be negative-to work quickly one must almost invariably accept the background assumptions of predecessors and complain only about the details. Philosophy ought not to be produced hastily to satisfy assessors or auditors. It is not an affair reserved for the ivory tower but an activity as much part of human life as raising children or preparing food. Any area of the messy, brilliant, muddle that is human life can be an occasion for puzzlement or anxiety, and this is where philosophy, with its ability both to get down to the nitty-gritty and to bring the big picture into view, comes in handy. Humans need philosophy whenever things get difficult: politically, ethically, personally, psychologically, scientifically, and emotionally. ‘Despite its irritating features’ she tells us, ‘philosophy is not a luxury but a necessity'. One of the constant themes of her work is meta-philosophical. Mary was an adult among adolescents, but she remained in a permanent state of youthful rebellion. But more than that, that a philosopher could wait until she was actually ready to say what she wanted to say is something that is hardly permissible today-‘I wrote no books until I was a good 50, and I’m jolly glad because I didn’t know what I thought before then’-she explained. That anyone could start so late and produce so much, and so vibrantly (she produced in addition over 280 articles) is close to miraculous-her last book What is Philosophy For? appeared just a few days before her final birthday. Mary was a giant among philosophers, though she only published the first of her nineteen books at the age of 59, a feat which is unfathomable today in more than one respect. Mary Beatrice Midgley has died at the age of 99.
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