At some point my brain just gave up and i hit psychosis. The book contained 42 pages, half of which were blank, and references from the fields of cognitive science, ai, religion, and. Should that be the case, you will need to have the book translated to english, twentyone rather short pages. Brimming with indifference, i gifted the book to d, who was wholly repulsed by it. The book is divided into an introduction and four main parts. Jun 14, 2015 being and nothingness by sartre is according to me, is an absolutely wonderful book on philosophy one can not give a miss. So if you want to take the infinite potential that is that blank canvas and fill it with a physical description of yourself, then fucking be my guest. An essay on phenomenological ontology, sometimes subtitled a phenomenological essay on ontology, is a 1943 book by the philosopher jeanpaul sartre, in which the author asserts the individuals existence as prior to the individuals essence and seeks to demonstrate that free. Oct 04, 2011 hofstadters lost book is the american republic, a 1,396page history that he worked on for many years with two talented coauthors, william miller and daniel aaron. Dec 01, 2012 inside was a white volume, hardback, called being or nothingness, with the well known picture by escher on the cover of two hands recursively drawing each other.
The reason the american republic is almost unknown today is that it was a college textbook. Even more valuably, the book reveals how to actually awaken to nothingness how to realize god. A philosophical classic and major cornerstone of modern existentialism often criticized and alltoorarely understood, the philosophy of jeanpaul sartre encompasses the dilemmas and aspirations of the individual in contemporary society. Consciousness is notmatter and by the same token escapes all. The next main thing we will be reading is sartres transcendence of the ego. Who was this hofstadter, and why would someone bother to send him seven books. The first couple pages of the book told of a pair of fellows. The book discusses, in a selfreferential, disjointed, and poetic way, the meaning of life, consciousness, selfidentity, religion, from what seems to be an existential perspective. It was only fortytwo pages long, twentyone of whichevery other pagewere completely blank, but everything about itthe paper, the illustrations, the typefacelooked very expensively produced. If you are not interested, just throw the book away, but please sen a. Though the book is thick, dense, and unfriendly to careless readers, it is indispensable to those interested in the philosophy of consciousness and free will.
See more ideas about vintage pop art, this or that questions and cold war propaganda. It introduces many of the main themes we will see in being and nothingness. Being or nothingness, commonly referred to as the giant rat of sumatra. On being or nothingness by joe k posted on october 29, 2008 by ironwolf i left the following comment today on this thread most of the comments are in english but the main article is in portuguese, so use an online translator if you want to read it. Being or nothingness is a memetic vehicle, or a burr. Inside was a white volume, hardback, called being or nothingness, with the well known picture by escher on the cover of two hands recursively drawing each other. It relates to what is presumably a prior acquaintance between the letter writer and hofstadter. Being and nothingnesscontains all the basic tenets of his thought, as well as all its more intricate details. Buy being and nothingness book online at low prices in india. Inside the front cover is, indeed, a neatly typed letter to doug hofstadter, with the right bloomington address etc. Essai dontologie phenomenologique, sometimes published with the subtitle a phenomenological essay on ontology, is a 1943 book by the philosopher jeanpaul sartre. Inside was a white volume, hardback, called being or nothingness, with the well known picture by escher on the cover of two hands.
I send the book to you since it is oddly intertwined with professor douglas hofstadter and his. Last july, deborah received a strange package in the mail the package contained a book. Douglas richard hofstadter born february 15, 1945 is an american scholar of cognitive science, physics, and comparative literature whose research includes concepts such as the sense of self in relation to the external world, consciousness, analogymaking, artistic creation, literary translation, and discovery in mathematics and physics. Being and nothingness project gutenberg selfpublishing. She in turn gifted it to ae, who presumably still has it. Jon ronsons the psycopath test 2011 opens with the strange story of being or nothingness. What do you think of being and nothingness by jeanpaul. In 1943, these themes were given largescale, systematic philosophical expression with the publication of being and nothingness. Im not going to try to analyze the books i received yet, except to note that yes, thats clearly the giant rat of. Mar 05, 20 hofstadter denied any involvement with the creation of being or nothingness, except to say that he had received dozens of copies and some cryptic swedish postcards. In the book, sartre develops a philosophical account in support of his existentialism, dealing with topics such as consciousness. Unfortunately the english original vanished shortly after its appearance and we have, as of yet, not managed to retrieve it. Barnes published by philosophical library 1956, ny 1956. Mar 26, 2018 his concept was the criticism of noumenan in which he define that there is a world of ideas what we perceive is access to all our ideas.
Christine daigle discusses some of the key concepts and ideas in sartres most important philosophical book. Please study the letter to professor hofstadter before you read the book. In his book the psychopath test, author jon ronson describes a strange. In his book the psychopath test, author jon ronson describes a strange event that occurred in 2008. Essai dontologie phenomenologique, sometimes subtitled a phenomenological essay on ontology, is a 1943 book by philosopher jeanpaul sartre.
The riddle of being or nothingness luke muehlhauser. The clean white cover was reminiscent of the cover of hofstadters followup. The word features prominently with a similar meaning in douglas hofstadters 1979 book, godel, escher, bach. Jun 01, 2014 i read this book being and nothingness 5 years ago and it lead me to a book called the voynich script. I believe it is is a clever form of christian viral marketing aimed at intellectuals who have previously written admiringly of the works of escher, hofstadter, adams, and such, as i have done at various times on my blog and other web sites. The psychopath test fiction, nonfiction and poetry books from. Nothingness is the putting into question of being by being that is, precisely consciousness or forself sartre, 1956.
A writer named jeanpaul sartre sees his latest philosophical manuscript, being and nothingness, a phenomenological essay on ontology, 722 pages of fine. Hofstadter denied any involvement with the creation of being or nothingness, except to say that he had received dozens of copies and some cryptic swedish postcards. The clean white cover was reminiscent of the cover of hofstadters followup to godel, escher, bach 2007s i am a strange loop. Read chapter one of jon ronsons the psychopath test. Other articles where being and nothingness is discussed. A select group of academics from around the world began to receive a mysterious book titled being or nothingness hereby abbreviated bon written by a joe k. The being or nothingness mystery unsolved mystery, page 1.
Nothingness is the putting into question of being by beingthat is, precisely consciousness or forself sartre, 1956. From meeting professor douglas hofstadter, the author of the topical. Full text of jeanpaul sartre being and nothingness see other formats. Feb 17, 2012 please study the letter to professor hofstadter before you read the book. Jeanpaul sartre, the seminal smartypants of midcentury thinking, launched the existentialist fleet with the publication of being and nothingness in 1943. Ronson then contacted hofstadter, asking him about the conspiracy.
I realize this is an unusual way of promoting a book project. He closes with the lords prayer and a cautionary afterword against holding being or nothingness in your hands. Letre et le neant, essai dontologie phenomenologique being and nothingness, jeanpaul sartre being and nothingness. Its spines are designed to collect a certain demographic of person, the catch being that these people previously havent shared acquaintance in any way consciously known to them. I send the book to you since it is oddly intertwined with professor douglas hofstadter and his book i am a strange loop. In this way, disparate cousins are united via a common event, thereby raising a fugue of minds across the globe. The celebrated french philosophers most essential text, being and nothingness takes a revolutionary look at ontology, ethics, and personal freedom in being and nothingness, jeanpaul sartre closely examines ontology the study of the nature of being and discusses empirical issues that he finds scientific fields struggle to explain. It is a short hardcover book, in which the publisher info page was physically cut out. Being or nothingness contains a letter in englisb directed to professor hofstadter, which might make you curious about the rest of the book. As dave, i drank, smoked, ate meat, rode my hawg, and worked myself to the point of exhaustion and stupor each and every day of my life.
Many allusions to or quotes from hofstadter, doyle, sartre, etc. Sartre places human consciousness, or nothingness neant, in opposition to being, or thingness etre. In the to hofstader joe k says it is a mistake to assume it is a book about religion or faith. Furthermore, being or nothingness looked like a hofstadter book. The being of consciousness, we said in the introduction, is a being such that in its being, its being is in question, this means that the being of consciousness does not coincide with itself in a full equivalence. Being and nothingness that sartre revealed himself as a master of outstanding talent.
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