Dr Stephen Davies: Author, Philosopher, and Theorist

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In my personal life I have five main motivations, in the sense of things that inspire action or lead to actions. The first is simply to enjoy life and to. gain as much as possible from it in enjoyment, pleasure, and experience and through that to develop understanding and character. The second, which follows from that, is to strive to be a good and virtuous person, to observe and practice the classical virtues and also the civic ones of kindness and modesty. The third is to support and aid those close to me, particularly my family and close relatives. This was not always one of my personal motivations, in fact I would say that in my earlier life I valued friendship more highly but as I have grown older this has become more important to me as a motive for action. The fourth is friendship, both as an aim and thing to cultivate and as something that inspires action. The final motivation is curiosity and the desire to learn, which is also the main motivation of my professional life.
In my professional life, the ultimate motivation is curiosity and the desire to know and understand. This is what drives most of the things I do. One result is that I am always looking to find out more about things that are not related to any specific task or professional concern - the curiosity is general. That said, if I look back at my reading and interests there are recurrent patterns but even so these are very extensive and diverse. What this means is that the desire to learn and understand comes first, it is not a consequence or result of being in a particular kind of profession. The second main motivation is that of wanting to tell other people of what I have come to know or understand. So as well as research (finding out stuff), teaching in the sense of explaining this to other people or communicating what I think I have found is the other main motivation. The third, which combines the previous two, is to engage in conversations of all kinds with all sorts of people (both living and dead) since that unites and extends the previous two motivations. There are two more specific motivations for what i do in a professional capacity. The first is to learn more about history in particular and to be the best historian that I can. This means not only developing the skills and judgment of the historian but also applying them in a way that conforms to the professional and ethical duties of the historian, to seek always for the truth and to not hide that, while being always open to correction. The second is to uphold and further the ideas and ideals of liberalism, of a free and open society, as captured in the tripartite motto of the French republic, 'liberty, equality, fraternity'. This however is subordinate to the other, so that if there is a conflict, it is that that gives way.

My initial response to difficulties and setbacks is to persist and keep going, to try again if you will. However I also believe that it is actually foolish to do that in the face of repeated failure so I'm not one who will repeatedly try again - I will always give a project several goes but if it hasn't worked out several times then you should realise that this isn't for you. That depends of course on how important the project is to you, how much it matters as a goal - the more it does, the more attempts you will make to realise it. Of course there are two points to add to that. As Einstein said it is the definition of insanity to simply repeat exactly what you did previously while expecting a different result. One of the most important ways to respond to setbacks or failure is to consider what you got wrong 9if you know what that was) and how to do things differently. The other point is not to fall into the sunk cost fallacy of thinking you have to have another go or double down on failure because of the effort you have already put in. That is literally a sunk cost - you are never getting it back so it is irrelevant to the question of whether to try again. It's the value you put on the initial goal that determines that. I have had recurrent setbacks in trying to get books or book projects published. Sometimes I have persisted with ultimate success - my book The Wealth Explosion is an example of that. On other occasions I have decided that the balance of costs and benefits meant I should put it aside - I did that with a project I had on individualist feminism for example. However, you can always return to projects of that kind later in life, with the benefit perhaps of greater knowledge or understanding.

I have had several mentors in my career, who were also inspirations for me. One very important mentor who was also an inspiration for me as a historian was my tutor at Saint Andrews and PhD advisor there, Geoffrey Parker. He was a charismatic teacher and also a model of how to be a historian, in terms of style, method and content. He also introduced me as a student to what have proved to be some of the most persistent influences on my thinking and intellectual life, most notably Fernand Braudel and the Annales School more generally. Another great intellectual influence over the years has been the philosopher John Gray. I used to know him very well but we haven't moved in the same circles for some time now (not that we ever fell out) but he continues to be an unknowing interlocutor for me. His ideas and critiques of naive or hubristic liberalism and concern for intellectual rigour and lack of sentimentality have always been and continue to be a big influence on me. At the same time, I dissent from his pessimism so I regard his work as an intellectual foil that inspires much of what I do but which is also a counterpoint I seek to correct or qualify. The third major mentor and inspiration for me was Walter Grinder, who we sadly lost last year. Walter was a longstanding classical liberal activist and scholar, who combined wide knowledge and intense intellectual curiosity with radical even intransigent political idealism. He was throughout the time I knew him a constant source of intellectual challenge and stimulation through his regular emails. He also played a crucial part in my career while I was at the Institute for Humane Studies in the early 1990s, along with his colleague Leonard Liggio. The other person who was a mentor at that time was Arthur Seldon, who involved me in the circle around the IEA and through whom I met many other people. On a personal level, someone who had a great impact on me but who sadly died several years ago was Chris Tame who was an example of positivity, enthusiasm and personal commitment to principle.

Personally, life is short, seize it and do not be afraid to take chances. Do not waste time on regrets. Do not harbour resentment or seek vengeance, this is incredibly destructive and will consume you. (Read what Saint Paul says about this). Professionally, three things. Don't be a perfectionist - that's the way to never get anything done. Secondly, to get things done, always allocate a specific block of time every day that is devoted to a key professional activity, above all researching and writing. Guard that jealously. Thirdly, network and cultivate connections.

The second and third of the pieces of advice given above. On a personal level, do not worry about what other people think of you or their standards of success. Decide what you want to do and do it. Do your own thing in other words (I arrived at that conclusion in my early twenties).