Logical Dilemmas: The Life and Work of Kurt Godel

377 Pages·1997·3.706 MB·English

by  John W. Dawson Jr.

JohnW. Dawson, Jr. isProfessorofMathematicsatPennsylvaniaStateUniversity.
BorninWichita,Kansas,heattendedM.I.T.asaNationalMeritScholarbeforeearning
a doctorate in mathematical logic from the University of Michigan. An internationally
recognizedauthorityonthelifeandworkofKurtGödel,ProfessorDawsonistheauthor
of numerousarticlesonaxiomatic set theory and thehistoryof modernlogic. During
the years 1982 to 1984, he catalogued Gödel’s papers at the Institute for Advanced
StudyinPrinceton,andafterwardheservedasaco-editorofGödel’sCollectedWorks.
Anaccomplishedflutist, ProfessorDawsonresidesinYork,Pennsylvaniawithhiswife
Cheryl, whocollaboratesactivelywith him inhiseditorialandmusicalendeavors.
Logical Dilemmas
Kurt Gödelat AmherstCollege, 1967
Logical Dilemmas
The Life and Work of Kurt Gödel
John W. Dawson, Jr.
Department ofMathematics
Pennsylvania State University
York,Pennsylvania
A K Peters
Wellesley, Massachusetts
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dawson, JohnW.(JohnWilliam),1944–
LogicalDilemmas: thelifeandworkof KurtGödel/ JohnW.
Dawson.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferences(p. – )andindex.
ISBN:1-56881-256-6
1. Gödel, Kurt. 2. Logicians–United States–Biography.
3. Logicians–Austria–Biography. I. Title
QA29.058D39 1996
193–dc2
[B] 96-50001
CIP
KolomanMoser’s“HomagetotheAmericanDancer,LoïeFuller”reprintedbypermis-
sionof Heinrich Moser (for the Moser Estate), and Graphische Sammlung Albertina,
Vienna.
Excerpt from “Burnt Norton” in FOUR QUARTETS, copyright 1943 by T.S. Eliot
and renewed1971 byEsmeValerieEliot, reprinted bypermissionof Harcourt,Inc.
PrintedintheUnited StatesofAmerica
0908 0706 05 10987 65432 1
To Cheryl
Without whose love, assistance, and forbearance
this book could not have been written

Contents
Preface and Acknowledgments ix
I Der Herr Warum 1
(1920-1924)
II Intellectual Maturation 21
(1924-29)
III Excursus: 37
A Capsule History of the
Development of Logic to 1928
IV Moment of Impact 53
(1929-31)
V Dozent in absentia 81
(1932-37)
VI “Jetzt, Mengenlehre” 115
(1937-39)
VII Homecoming and Hegira 139
(1939-40)
vii
viii Logical Dilemmas
VIII Years of Transition 153
(1940-46)
IX Philosophy and Cosmology 173
(1946-51)
X Recognition and Reclusion 193
(1951-61)
XI New Light on the Continuum Problem 215
(1961-68)
XII Withdrawal 229
(1969-78)
XIII Aftermath 255
XIV Reflections on Gödel’s Life and Legacy 261
Notes 271
Appendix A: Chronology 313
Appendix B: Family Genealogies 317
Appendix C: Biographical Vignettes 321
Bibliography 329
Index 345