A review of the Edmonds biography of Parfit...

...in The Philosopher's Magazine.  The review starts by sounding a Nietzschean note:  "Philosophers tend to tolerate a high degree of personal strangeness in one another. More specifically, they tend not to worry – at least explicitly or on the record – about whether the weird philosophical beliefs and the weird non-philosophical actions of a colleague might have a common source."  For Nietzsche, of course, the philospohical systems of at least the great philosophers admit of psychological explanation.  Regarding the Edmonds biography, the reviewers note that,

The book is largely an entertaining, and highly revealing, exercise in psychological portraiture by means of anecdote. Parfit, Edmonds tells us, would peddle in the nude on his exercise bike, reading philosophy; he would brush his teeth for hours, reading philosophy; every day he would eat the same breakfast of muesli and yoghurt and the same dinner of carrots, cheese, lettuce, and celery, to maximise his time for philosophy; he would make coffee using water straight out of the tap, to maximise his time for philosophy; he would take a mixture of vodka and pills every night to help him sleep, since he couldn’t stop thinking about philosophy.

The review goes on to explore the significance of these peculiarities.  I would remind readers, and the reviewers, of the observations by the neurologist Dr. Roger Alblin regarding a more critical review of the Parfit biography:

At an earlier point in the review, [the reviewer] notes that Parfit’s biographer suggested that Parfit might have had an autism spectrum disorder (though disorder is something of a misnomer).  Based on what I’ve read about Parfit, I’d say this is more than plausible.  But if that is the case, then spending his life in the cloistered environment of All Souls College, and Parfit’s apparently obsessive conduct, would not be “sadomasochistic denial.”  Many of the ordinary demands, pleasures, and uncertainties of conventional life may well have been distressing for Parfit.  His life would be uncomfortably demanding for the great majority of us, but it may well have been the most comfortable for him. 

That is probably right, although it still leaves interesting questions about these psychological needs and his philosophical work.  (Even more important to understanding his moral philosophy, it has alway seemed to me, is that Parfit's parents were Christian missionaries.)

At an earlier point in the review, [the reviewer] notes that Parfit’s biographer suggested that Parfit might have had an autism spectrum disorder (though disorder is something of a misnomer).  Based on what I’ve read about Parfit, I’d say this is more than plausible.  But if that is the case, then spending his life in the cloistered environment of All Souls College, and Parfit’s apparently obsessive conduct, would not be “sadomasochistic denial.”  Many of the ordinary demands, pleasures, and uncertainties of conventional life may well have been distressing for Parfit.  His life would be uncomfortably demanding for the great majority of us, but it may well have been the most comfortable for him. 

That is probably right, although it still leaves interesting questions about these psychological needs and his philosophical work.  (Even more important to understanding his moral philosophy, it has alway seemed to me, is that Parfit's parents were Christian missionaries.)