A few weeks ago I got the following:
Dear Prof. Jonathan Wolff ,
My name is xxx, I am an Ethiopian living in the capital city which is
Addis Ababa. I have strong interest in political philosophy and political
science- as I am student of political Science. And presently I am working a
thesis.
Occasionally, when I read articles written by you I found it incomparable
and distinct from contemporary thinkers, scholars and writers. Unfortunately,
I did not manage to get your books in Ethiopia and it is difficult for me to
buy/order books via internet- I am student. Therefore, please, please I beg
you(I am in dire need of the following books), send me the following books (An
Introduction to Political Philosophy, Political Thought and Why Read Marx
Today? -I need this three books very very extremely) that would help me to
understand and elaborate political philosophy, political thought and other
burning issues in magnificent way.
I have a great hope that my email will receive a good response.Sincerely yours:
Some people instinctively know me so well. This combination of flattery and need I would normally find irresistible. But I smelt a rat and suspect that anything I send would not remain in the possession of my correspondent for long, and didn’t reply.
A couple of years ago I got a similar request from someone claiming to teach in an under-resourced community college on an Indian reservation in New Mexico. I didn’t reply to that either. But could either be genuine? Does anyone have any relevant knowledge? I suspect not, but comments open, just in case.
