Well I do. OK, maybe all of this is too wierd, but here goes. One of the companies I work with, Hynomics, is based on some very deep, logic-based math and home to a warm, sensitive jewish genius named Wolf Kohn. There are only two reasons I can follow anything the company does: taking logic classes from a marvelous professor and struggling through the breathtaking Gödel, Escher, Bach where the paradoxical beauty of math, music and art all come together in an "eternal golden braid."
Well, in poking around on this I am somehow reminded of another warm, sensitive jewish genius, Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677). And who do I find as the number one link on the topic but the very same professor who taught me logic in the first place, Ron Bombardi, who also introduced me to Hofstadter, Spinoza, Glenn Gould and... Celtic/Appalachian music.
So, you ask, where is all this heading? Hold on. Meanwhile, I am reading the Age of Reason Begins of Will and Arial Durant's highly underappreciated Story of Civilization series, and learning all about the warm, sensitive wonders of Rembrandt in the Dutch Golden Age. And it comes to me, a new book that, like Gödel, Escher, Bach, examines the trilogy of Philosphy/Reason, Art and Music, but this time with more heart.
How about Spinoza, Rembrandt, O'Carolan? Spinoza for recognizing the humaness and emotion of reason and logic, Rembrandt for capturing the bittersweet beauty of everyday life, and O'Carolan for celebrating it's poignancy in Celtic music (including his sublime Farewell to Music). Alright, maybe it wouldn't hit the airport bookshelves anytime soon, but I kinda like the idea.
Posted by johnza at April 26, 2003 05:06 AM | TrackBackHow come you got no comments on this? Doesn't Bombardi read it? I happened to stumble across this article through a cross link to philosophy research. What's your site about?
Posted by: guess on May 26, 2003 06:42 AM