Accordingly, this book deals with philosophical questions of general interest which have in certain ways affected my private and professional life. I am well aware that my answers will be found displeasing to some and irritating to others, and that many will see them as too categorical, too black-and-white, or too definitive. But what is the benefit of not offering a clear and definitive answer, when it can be done? To be in possession of a correct answer and present it in a vague fashion – so that others may mistake it for a wrong answer – is much worse than to give a wrong answer and let others see why it is wrong. This attitude makes the job easier for all those who will criticize my positions, in the way I have criticized the positions of others in this work. On the other hand, I must say that I have done everything in my power to avoid errors in my presentation of facts and logic. Should my critics nonetheless discover that some errors have crept in, I will make appropriate corrections in due time.

I must also say that the writing of this book was a serious task that required a lot of homework; and I have to add that it was undertaken to satisfy a feeling of intellectual duty. It was no hobby job at all; I often view my lab work as a hobby, but my true hobby is fishing. Many a thought expressed here came to my mind while returning from fishing during quiet nights on the Adriatic Sea. Perhaps there is some truth in the idea that the crisp climate of the Mediterranean has a positive impact on one’s thoughts.¹ In my manner of thinking I certainly do detect a kinship with the mind frame of two Dalmatians, Franciscus Patricius and Rogerio Boscovich, whose ideas are extensively discussed in this book. If my Dalmatian temperament is to be blamed for the manner of argumentation, in the words of St. Jerome, Boscovich and many others, I say: Parce mihi, Domine, quia Dalmata sum. ²

¹ It is fashionable these days to deem profound only that which is obscure, as if one were turning Boileau’s famous epigram upside down and claiming that a well-articulated thought cannot be expressed clearly. This fashion was imported here by a philosophy born in the vicinity of the fog of the Baltic Sea; it was unknown when thinkers were breathing only the air of the Mediterranean. Duhem, P. (2006). A new theory of the inorganic world. In The philosophical forum (Vol. 37, No. 1, pp. 3-28). Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
² Forgive me Lord, for I am a Dalmatian.