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Pastimes : A CENTURY OF LIONS/THE 20TH CENTURY TOP 100 -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Neocon who wrote (1286)	11/9/1999 1:38:00 PM
From: jbe	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 3246

Neocon, First of all, I am not at all sure that "the central event of the modern period is the unsettlement of the given world in which we live," if by the "modern period" you mean the 20th century. I would say this "unsettlement" was more central to the NINETEENTH century, thanks to such intellectual bombshells as Darwinism, and to industrialization, etc. So I would not give existentialism pride of place over other philosophical movements for the reason you cite. May I add when we are up close to events, we pay more attention to the sound and the fury, and often don't even notice quieter developments that may turn out to be more significant in the long run. Take the huge increase in global life expectancy in the 20th century, for example. (http://www.overpopulation.com/life_expectancy.html) I still do not think that C.S. Lewis and G. K. Chesterton have had any particular influence beyond certain circles in the English-speaking world. If you can prove to me that their works are translated into many different languages, and that they have a wide readership abroad, or even that they have large cult followings, if not mass followings, I may surrender. But Ernest Hemingways they are not. By the way, I detest Hemingway. That is, I find him unreadable. But I can't deny his work has been extremely influential, both on the craft of writing, and on ordinary readers. Wherever you go on the globe, people have heard of Hemingway (if they are literate, that is). He should probably be on any Top 100 list.

To: Neocon who wrote (1286)	11/12/1999 3:47:00 PM
From: jbe	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3246

Back to Philosophy. Any mathematicians/logicians out there? How about Bertrand Russell/Alfred North Whitehead for Principia Mathematica (not to speak of other works both philosophers wrote)? Frankly, I have not so much as thought of cracking the "Principia" myself (I can't even remember my Algebra I). But here is a blurb about it (from the Amazon.com description): Could it be true that Whitehead and Russell's Principia Mathematica is the most influential book written in the 20th century? Ask any mathematician or philosopher--or anyone who understands the impact these fields have had on modern thinking--and you'll get a short answer: yes. Their goal, to set mathematics on a firm logical foundation, was revolutionary, and their tools and rigor continue to influence modern professionals. Using Peano's symbolic logic, they formalized axioms and produced theorems (including the famous "1 + 1 = 2") in orderings, continuous functions, and other areas of mathematics. Although the Principia is far from comprehensive, Whitehead and Russell's method and program captivate their readers. The audacity to hope to formalize all of mathematics logically was inspirational and helped to give great boosts to math and logical philosophy. Though Gödel proved in 1931 that any such program is doomed to incompleteness, the tools found in and developed from the three volumes helped build the atomic bomb and the Internet. It may not be summer vacation reading (for most), but Principia Mathematica will reward the dedicated student with a deeper understanding of how we got here. And while we are on Philosophy, then certainly Pragmatism has been immensely influential, at least in the English-speaking countries. Take your pick: William James? Charles Pierce? John Dewey? Joan