Description

Over a period of 22 years (1934–1955), mathematician Kurt Gödel put down a series of philosophical remarks – the so-called Philosophical Maxims (Max Phil) – in writing. They have been passed down in 15 notebooks written in Gabelsberger shorthand. The first notebook contains general philosophical reflections, while the second and third notebooks consist of Gödel’s applied individual ethics. The notebooks that follow show that Gödel developed a philosophy of science in which he placed his considerations of physics, psychology, biology, mathematics, language, theology, and history within the context of a particular metaphysics. Now for the first time ever, a complete, historical-critical edition of Gödel’s philosophical notebooks is being prepared by the Kurt Gödel Research Center of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. One volume will be published yearly as part of this series. Volume 2 contains both notebooks of Time Management (Max) I and II and thereby Gödel’s applied individual ethics, which he received among others through his teacher Heinrich Gomperz. Gödel thus incorporates the ethical ideal of self-perfection into his opus. The volume is prefaced by an introduction to relevant considerations from the ethics of the Stoics as well as ancient dietetics, which provide the philosophical background to understand Gödel’s approach. In addition, editor Eva-Maria Engelen presents how this fits into the context of Gödel’s Philosophical Notebooks.