Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by KrisAndrew 4424 days ago
I find the crossover between philosophy and mathematics/logic extremely interesting. I've read both of Wittgenstein's major works ("Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus" and "Philosophical Investigations") and found them very compelling. I tried to read Heidegger's "Being and Time", but it was beyond me at that point. I'll attempt it again next year maybe.

The essential point of the article is that systems without contradictions are not interesting. The contradictions create a point of discussion; a single, loose thread on the lapel of an otherwise perfectly tailored suit jacket. However, were you to don this suit and show up at a formal, elegant dinner party, everyone would see the flaw but no one would speak of it... at least not at the party. That would be gauche.

If you enjoyed the math, but not the Buddhism, you might enjoy "Philosophy of Arithmetic" by Husserl, or almost anything by Frege.