I notice that my chum Andrew Irvine has given his ANW entry on the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy a revamp. Though probably best known (at least to the man on the Clapham omnibus) for the quote that “The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato”…
Born on this day. It just so happens that while writing on Herbert Simon today I was reminded of Russell who, on hearing from Simon about his “thinking machine” that proved theorems from Principia Mathematica, responded: “I am delighted to know that ‘Principia Mathematica’ can now be done by machinery. I wish Whitehead and I had known of this…
On hearing that Simon’s “thinking machine” computer program Logic Theorist not only validated Russell and Whitehead’s axioms and theorems (but even proved one more elegantly), Russell replied: “I am delighted to know that Principia Mathematica can now be done by machinery. I [only] wish Whitehead and I had known of this possibility before we both…
Simon Critchley in The New York Times. See Leiter’s critical take on Critchley.
manwithoutqualities 