Piper publishes "Kant on the Objectivity of the Moral Law." Diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis. Intensifies yoga practice to three-plus hours daily, becomes a vegan. Doesn't collapse from physical exhaustion at end of spring semester. Leaves John Weber Gallery to go solo, while continuing non-exclusive relationship with Paula Cooper Gallery. Exhibits at Galleria Emi Fontana (Milan), Thomas Erben Gallery (New York). Reads John Banville. Discovers Gavin Bryars, Stefan Wolpe, Discantus. Receives National Endowment for the Humanities Research Fellowship. Elected as a Distinguished Scholar at the Getty Research Institute. Celebrates 49th birthday at Richard Freeman's Ashtanga yoga workshop. Embarks on two-year sabbatical from Wellesley and postpones production of new artwork to finish Rationality and the Structure of the Self, Volumes I-III. Spends last seven months of 1997 disposing of paperwork backlog from 1993.