Wittgenstein’s Vienna, Allan Janik & Stephen Toulmin
An exposition on the social and political backdrop of Wittgenstein's work on language and reality that somehow manages to be a real delight and page-turner.
We see both familiar names that would be expected in a philosophical context - Kant, Schopenhauer, Kierkegaard, and even Tolstoy, as well as those less frequently associated with philosophy - Herz, Planck, Mach, Boltzmann. We watch a plethora of scientific and cultural ideas evolve through the dusk of Hapsburg Vienna and encounter burning questions of ethics that the Tractatus and later Wittgenstein works would address.
The list of applicable questions that stream into mind can go on almost endlessly:
When is theory be developed out of general analysis in an attempt to explain the universe, and when as a way of solving practical problems?
What are the implications of neo-Kantian thoughts of reason not being able to dictate morality on contemporary humanitarianism and on political typologies? Should and can we think about the ethics of science and technology outside of rational frameworks?
To what extent is language a fitting metaphor for reality, and is anthropology any less flawed a representation of the physical world than say, blackhole statistical systems used by deep learning methods?
Consider the Lobster and Other Essays, David Foster Wallace
David Foster Wallace is/was that Marvellously Caustic Friend whose after-dinner casual remarks about life make you laugh, cry, and fall into A Deep Pondering. A collection of razor sharp exegeses of puritanical and prurient America.
When Einstein Walked with Gödel: Excursions to the Edge of Thoughts, Jim Holt
Objectively, this is an enjoyable collection of essays about topics in math and science, some more well-written and engrossing than the rest (for example, do not take the one about Ada Lovelace seriously in any way). Subjectively, this book felt deeply personal to me as it was the trigger of realization that I’ve miraculously reached an undefined, critical threshold of “having read enough random things” to enjoy reading other random things and derive constant joy from the process.
Details spared in this post: The Elegant Universe
The Power of Babel: A Natural History of Language, John McWhorter
With the proliferation of some languages as standards of global commerce and influence, as well as grammatical dictations by the codification of spoken languages, it may be common perception that languages are defined, static, and increases in complexity with the degree of technological advancements of the underlying society. This book dissects the ways in which languages morph and function to dispel these inaccurate views: that it is much more sensible to think of languages as complexly interrelated dialects, that language mixture has been happening ever since the first word was spoken, that less known and more isolated languages actually have far more subtle and complex rules and nuances than more widespread languages, and that the spoken version of many languages (ex. English and French) have evolved far past codified written rules created centuries ago.
Solaris, Stanislaw Lem
With few human characters, there is tantamount conflict, complex and heartbreaking, taking place on the faraway and strange planet of Solaris. To say that creating conflict with such limited human cast is difficult is unfair, as landing on this very planet is akin to man meeting God. I think that the best science fiction shatters and recreates our notions of existence and axioms of epistemology, and Lem does exactly this.
The Master and Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov
Magic and Mayhem makes for peculiar yet effective social commentary. The book reads like new age poetry, a big metaphor full of unfamiliar concepts strung together that may frustrate some traditional readers, and indeed I would not have enjoyed it nearly as much without some previous exposure to Gogol’s grotesque surrealism, Chekhov’s love for inconsequential details, and of course Solzhenitsyn’s cultural backdrop. Injecting some Eastern perspective (which may be appropriate), enjoyment from this metaphor of a book was akin to reading Chinese poetry, the ultimate embodiment of generations of works built on prior reference.
A Brightness Long Ago, Guy Gavriel Kay
Rarely does one cross a fantasy storyteller who crafts worlds and meaning without gratuitous pages and characters as Guy Gavriel Kay. These lyrical pages sing an existential song full of sadness and joy, ever so profound:
“Without a single word, the essence is conveyed. Without speaking of misery, a passionate sadness comes through. It’s true someone hidden controls the world; with that being you sink or flat”. (Sikong Tu, Twenty-Four Styles of Poetry)