The most popular subject at Intermediate level in the Matriculation examinations was Philosophy, in addition to English. How do you account for this?

There are two reasons: You may be arching your eyebrows quizzically at hearing me for once answering with no hint of hesitation. I know of course that Bertrand Russell rightly said: "Fools are cocksure, the wise are full of doubts", but I have solid grounds, at least this time around, for being certain that I have the right answers to your question.

The first is that being able to show in your CV that you have done some philosophy has now become an asset in job hunting not only in the US but also throughout Europe.

For instance, in 2005 a group of business and other consultants led by Gianluca Boschi published a book called Fare Cose con la Filosofia, in which they showed the relevance of philosophy to their daily work as managers/counsellors especially with regard to human resources.

Times have changed since I used to have pinned on my office door a blown-up cartoon showing a student explaining why she had chosen the philosophy course: "At least I will be able to accept being unemployed philosophically". Her concept of philosophy was still that of the lady who consoled her friend who was shedding bitter tears because her favourite vase had been toppled over by the cat: "Now don't take it so badly. Be a philosopher!"

With the times, the general understanding of what philosophy is has changed radically and in particular the relationship of philosophy to employment.

The Knowledge Society has brought about two major socio-cultural changes: an ever increasing complexity in human practices and an increasing specialisation in fields of study.

The focusing on technological efficiency at whatever human cost has resulted in such phenomenon as the famous medical bulletin which said: "The operation was a total success, but the patient has died".

These developments as well as the emergence of hybrid systems in which human beings and electronic machines are conjoint elements have recreated the demand for philosophy, with its transdisciplinary approach and network building capacity between different areas of professional knowledge and activities.

What is your second reason for students choosing Philosophy?

It is the change in the way in which philosophy is conceived and is now taught as a subject with a strongly practical orientation towards the problems of life, although with a deep impregnation of theory.

The graduates in philosophy of recent years have proved themselves to be excellent teachers. They have understood the essential link between philosophy and clowning. It is not purely coincidental that Mary Ann Cassar, who teaches logic, wrote her thesis on laughter provocation. Incidentally, she is the first woman with full status as a teacher in the Faculty of Theology.

Besides teachers, excellent textbooks have been produced. At first they were criticised on the grounds of being difficult, but as time went on they came to be enjoyed more and more by young people who are not allergic to using their own minds.

Perhaps the most successful of these books has been Joe Friggieri's In-Nisġa tal-Ħsieb. Both he and I have for many years been concerned about how best to use our bilingualism to benefit in philosophy. The use of a textbook written in a way that shows in practice how efficient a medium for philosophy the Maltese language can be, while the students can still choose to write their assignments and answer their examination questions in English, has given the best results of all the various experiments with the use of a Semitic language in tandem with English that we have tried out.

However, what I am most proud of is the textbook on logic written by Vincent Riolo, your brother. Naturally, I have read Mark Montebello's two volume encyclopaedic account of all the contributions to philosophy made by Malta-connected people over the centuries, and for the second time in this interview I make yet another claim with little fear of it being mistaken: Riolo's contribution to the development of what might be called dialogic logic (or constructivist logic) is the most powerful building brick supplied by a fellow countryman of ours to the edifice of philosophy.

Of course it is almost impossible for students familiar with neither classic Aristotelian nor modern Fregean logic to appreciate the finesse of the material they are privileged to study, in contrast with the rubbish that my generation were taught, out of a textbook by Charles Boyer of the Gregorian University.

So are there no Philosophy graduates registering at the Employment and Training Corporation?

No, I do not think there are any. As Joe Saliba pointed out when he stepped down after his successful stint as Nationalist Party general secretary, philosophy provides the best training for strategic thinking, since it trains the mind to operate simultaneously on two registers: the construction of global frameworks for the proper contextualisation of problems and the individual case study approach to the problems calling for intervention and practical action at the local level.

Fr Peter Serracino Inglott was talking to Miriam Vincenti.