Sigmund delves into fascinating philosophical areas but delivers an overwhelming amount of information.
Philosophers and mathematicians don’t have much in common, right? A mathematician disagrees.
Sigmund, professor emeritus of mathematics at the University of Vienna and author of Exact Thinking in Demented Times, makes his case in nearly 400 pages of lucid prose. The author is a fine writer, but this is not Mathematics and Philosophy for Dummies; readers without a background in both may struggle. The first section “traces the evolution of the self-image of mathematics.” Evidence alone supports scientific laws; they can never be proven beyond a doubt. Not so with mathematics, but Sigmund’s explanations of mathematical proofs—dense with equations and diagrams—are not for the faint of heart. Surprisingly, proving that 1 + 1 = 2 is a complex operation. In the second section of the book, the author deals with chance, the continuum, and infinity, which goes beyond common sense and often vexes philosophers with problems such as “how an infinitesimal could be smaller than anything and yet not zero.” Beginning with the Enlightenment, mathematicians began stepping on philosophical toes by examining human behavior and institutions with often intriguing results. These occupy the book’s third and fourth sections and are more accessible. In the digital age, computers are the rage even for deep thinkers, and it’s become so difficult to maintain that computers are not intelligent that experts have moved the goalposts to maintain that they are not conscious. It turns out that humans are “utterly inept” at estimating probabilities, risks, and even fairness. Many Americans have no doubt that our winner-take-all voting system is superior, but it’s proven that all voting systems are unfair. Sigmund also examines irresistible areas such as game theory, probability, decisions, and the social contract, as well as parables such as the Prisoner’s Dilemma.
Sigmund delves into fascinating philosophical areas but delivers an overwhelming amount of information.Pub Date: Dec. 19, 2023
ISBN: 9781541602694
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Basic Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 20, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955
ISBN: 0679733736
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955
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