Insurmountable Simplicities: Thirty-nine Philosophical Conundrums

141 Pages·2006·1.73 MB·English

by  Roberto Casati

INSURMOUNTABLE SIMPLICITIES

Insurmountable
Simplicities
39 PHILOSOPHICAL CONUNDRUMS
ROBERTO C ASATI + AC HILLE VARZI
TRANSLATED BY ACHILLE VARZI
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS NEW YORK
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS
Publishers Since 1893
New York Chichester, West Sussex
Copyright © 2004 Gius. Laterza & Figli, Roma-Bari
Translation copyright © 2006 Columbia University Press
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Casati, Roberto, 1961–
[Semplicitá insormontabili English]
Insurmountable simplicities : thirty-nine philosophical stories /
Roberto Casati, Achille C. Varzi.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0–231–13722–2 (alk. paper)
I. Varzi, Achille C. II. Title.
PQ4863.A7768S4613 2006
853'.92—dc22
2005031592
Columbia University Press books are printed on
permanent and durable acid-free paper.
Printed in the United States of America
C 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
CONTENTS
ONE 1
Room  3
About a Useless Project 5
The Poet as a Young Man 8
The Chain of Events Leading Up to the Goal 10
TWO 13
Zombie, Inc. Sleeping Pills 15
Partial Amnesia 17
Person Transplant 20
My Ice Cream, Your Ice Cream 23
THREE 27
Playing Lotto in Reverse City 29
Lucky Numbers 31
The Invisible Disorder 34
FOUR 37
A Missive from the Bell-Ringer 39
Sparkling Bubbles 41
Dates of Birth 44
Four-Seasons Island 46
Lost Beauty Spots 48
Hic Sunt Leones 52
Reflections 54
FIVE 59
The Last Case of the President of Amoebas 61
The Hidden Statue 65
A Cupboard in Pieces 68
Holter Monitor 71
Row  74
Train Cancelled 77
Satellites 80
SIX 83
Verbatim 85
The Intelligent Dictionary 87
The Traveler’s Pictionary 90
Ink Marks 93
SEVEN 95
Forced Choices 97
What Does the Majority Want ? 99
Law Number One 101
EIGHT 105
Proud To Be Third 107
The Placebo Effect 109
Interesting ! 112
Self-Reference Self-Explained 115
The Surprise Visit 119
A Risky Cake 122
CODA 125
Universal Acid 127

NOTE 131
INSURMOUNTABLE SIMPLICITIES