"natural theology > notes > 2016 > Sunday 27 November"

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Aquinas, Thomas, Summa Theologica, Editiones Paulinae 1962 Advertenda: 'Cum Summa Theologia Divi Thomas usitatissimus in scholis theologicis evadat, saepius temporibus anteactis forma manuali edita est, ut facilius eius usus redderetur; tamen hucusque impossibile fuit editionem manualem unico volumine parare. Nunc progressus artis typographicae ad hoc optima media praebet et ideo desiderium omnium professorum at alumnorum adimplere nisi sumus, illis Summam Theologiae unico volumine, forma manuali et scholaris, cum typis maxime perspicuis, offerendo et hoc modo magno incommoda editionum in prluribus voluminis evadendo.'back

de Jonge, Alex, Stalin: and the Shaping of the Soviet Union, William Morrow & Co 1986 Editorial review: From Library Journal: 'De Jonge has written a provocative biography of this major figure of Soviet history. He has drawn heavily upon emigre accounts and diplomatic reports; all the same his study is not free of superficialities. He sharply criticizes Stalin's rivals and his World War II allies, and he hides nothing of Stalin's savagery. Yet de Jonge's conclusions, sure to be challenged, are also clear: Russia could never have become a superpower without coercion (the national work ethic being what it is), and, in exercising that coercion, Stalin enjoyed support from every level of Soviet society. This biography will not replace Adam Ulam's Stalin: the man and his era (1973), but it is a useful, clear-eyed introduction for the general reader.' R.H. Johnston, History Dept., McMaster Univ., Hamilton, Ontario Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Feferman, Solomon, and John W Dawson, Stephen C Kleene, Gregory H Moore, Robert M Solovay, Jean van Heijenoort (editors), Kurt Goedel: Collected Works Volume 1 Publications 1929-1936, Oxford UP 1986 Jacket: 'Kurt Goedel was the most outstanding logician of the twentieth century, famous for his work on the completeness of logic, the incompleteness of number theory and the consistency of the axiom of choice and the continuum hypotheses. ... The first volume of a comprehensive edition of Goedel's works, this book makes available for the first time in a single source all his publications from 1929 to 1936, including his dissertation. ...'
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Keane, John, The Life and Death of Democracy, Pocket Books/Simon & Schuster 2009 Jacket: 'JK's The Life and Death of Democracy will inspire and shock its readers.Presenting the first grand history of democracy for well over a century, it poses along the way some tough and timely questions: can we really be sore that democracy had its origins in ancient Greece? How did democratic ideals and institutions come to have the shape they do today? . . . '
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Quinlan, Michael, and Tanya Ogilvie-White (editor), On Nuclear Deterrence - The Correspondence of Sir Michael Quinlan, Internsional Institute for Strategic Studies 2011 'This timely book, published in the lead up to the 2012-14 decision on Trident renewal, makes available for the first time the late Sir Michael Quinlan’s private correspondence on nuclear deterrence. It shows why Sir Michael, as Policy Director and then Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Defence during the last years of the Cold War, became known as the ‘high priest of deterrence’: his unparalleled grasp of nuclear strategy, contribution to nuclear doctrine in the UK and NATO, and deep and genuine concern with defence ethics earned him respect and admiration around the world. . . . '
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Roll-Hansen, Nils, The Lysenko Effect: The Politics of Science, Humanity Books 2004 Jacket review: 'This is a superb account of Lysenko's rise to power and the circumstances that led to the destruction of classical genetics in the USSR. Roll-Hansen brilliiiantly leads the reader through the step-by-step process by which personal ambition, state ideology, legitimate scientific division, appeasement, and a curious mixture of legitimate and bogus science could get out of hand. Roll-Hansen's marshalling of evidence is magnificent and scholarly. He discusses the science at issue and the quality of experimentation as well as the toxic effects of ideological thinking on both sides of the debate in its earlier phases. This fresh look at a tormented event in the history of science is free of the Cold War perspectives that have dominated earlier studies of Lysenkoism. This is a major contribution to the history of science.' Elof Axel Carson
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Whitehead, Alfred North, and Bertrand Arthur Russel, Principia Mathematica to *56 , Cambridge University Press 1997 Amazon editorial review: 'Editorial Reviews Amazon.com Could it be true that Whitehead and Russell's Principia Mathematica is the most influential book written in the 20th century? Ask any mathematician or philosopher--or anyone who understands the impact these fields have had on modern thinking--and you'll get a short answer: yes. Their goal, to set mathematics on a firm logical foundation, was revolutionary, and their tools and rigor continue to influence modern professionals. Using Peano's symbolic logic, they formalized axioms and produced theorems (including the famous "1 + 1 = 2") in orderings, continuous functions, and other areas of mathematics. Although the Principia is far from comprehensive, Whitehead and Russell's method and program captivate their readers. The audacity to hope to formalize all of mathematics logically was inspirational and helped to give great boosts to math and logical philosophy. Though Gödel proved in 1931 that any such program is doomed to incompleteness, the tools found in and developed from the three volumes helped build the atomic bomb and the Internet. It may not be summer vacation reading (for most), but Principia Mathematica will reward the dedicated student with a deeper understanding of how we got here.' --Rob Lightner
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Bernard Keane, The birth of modernity, 'Nearly five hundred years ago, a German theologian published a paper on an obscure doctrinal point. It started a cascade of ideas that fundamentally shaped the modern world.' back

Costica Bradatan (Los Angeles Review of Books), The Philosopher of Failure: Emil Cioran's Heights of Despair, 'Whenever I happen to be in a city of any size, I marvel that riots do not break out every day: massacres, unspeakable carnage, a doomsday chaos. How can so many human beings coexist in a space so confined without destroying each other, without hating each other to death? As a matter of fact, they do hate each other, but they are not equal to their hatred. And it is this mediocrity, this impotence, that saves society, that assures its continuance, its stability.' back

Filippo Mercer, Misinformation on social media: Can technology save us, 'If you get your news from social media, as most Americans do, you are exposed to a daily dose of hoaxes, rumors, conspiracy theories and misleading news. When it’s all mixed in with reliable information from honest sources, the truth can be very hard to discern. In fact, my research team’s analysis of data from Columbia University’s Emergent rumor tracker suggests that this misinformation is just as likely to go viral as reliable information.' back

Fred Miller (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy), Aritotle's Political Theory, 'Aristotle (b. 384 – d. 322 BCE), was a Greek philosopher, logician, and scientist. Along with his teacher Plato, Aristotle is generally regarded as one of the most influential ancient thinkers in a number of philosophical fields, including political theory. . . . Aristotle's life seems to have influenced his political thought in various ways: his interest in biology seems to be expressed in the naturalism of his politics; his interest in comparative politics and his sympathies for democracy as well as monarchy may have been encouraged by his travels and experience of diverse political systems; he criticizes harshly, while borrowing extensively, from Plato's Republic, Statesman, and Laws; and his own Politics is intended to guide rulers and statesmen, reflecting the high political circles in which he moved.' back

Hegemony - Wikipedia, Hegemony - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Hegemony (Greek: ἡγεμονία hēgemonía, "leadership, rule") is the political, economic, or military predominance or control of one state over others. In ancient Greece (8th century BCE – 6th century CE), hegemony denoted the politico–military dominance of a city-state over other city-states. The dominant state is known as the hegemon.' back

Janet Ferrell Brodie, The little-known history of secrecy and censorship in the wake of the atomic bombings, 'Although everything related to the effects of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs was defined at the time as a military secret, US officials treated the three main effects – blast, fire, and radiation – very differently. They publicized and celebrated the powerful blast but worked to suppress information about the bombs’ radiation.' back

Matt Slaby, We are poorer for the things you are looking at in these pictures, 'At the height of the Cold War, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev boasted that the Soviets were manufacturing nuclear missiles “like sausages.” His bravado underscored early strategic posturing that turned on the assumption that more was better. The Kennedy administration responded in kind, referring to the perceived shortage of American nukes as a runner would imagine trying to pass the leader of a race. . . . President John F. Kennedy sought to bridge what was referred to as the “missile gap” by stepping up production, funding concurrent missile programs, thereby kicking the arms race into full gear' back

Nautilus Institute, Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainability, 'This page lists the publications and resources associated with the research on Pine Gap by Desmond Ball, Bill Robinson and Richard Tanter. It will be updated for new publications and as more materials from the project are available. Contact: Richard Tanter: rtanter at nautilus.org back

NY Times, Rare Photos Show World War II From the Soviet Side, Solders traveling by foot for bandaging before going back to the front line. Zeelov Heights. Germany. April 1945. CreditValery Faminsky/Courtesy of Arthur Bondar back

Richard Tranter, Fifty years on Pine Gap should reform to better serve Australia, 'The base has capabilities that could genuinely contribute to the defence of Australia. This would depend on the will and resolution of an Australian government capable of identifying these. . . . However, given the almost comprehensive inability of recent Australian governments to separate Australian and American interests and to pursue an autonomous Australian foreign policy, the prospect of reform of Pine Gap is a distant one. It will most likely prove impossible for the foreseeable future.' back

Richard W Painter, Trump's Business Empire Isn't Just an Ethical Disaster, 'How can we expect a Trump administration to rein in loose lending practices, particularly in the real estate sector, when the president himself owes hundreds of millions of dollars to banks? What will he do when a foreign dictator acts up in a country where there is a Trump hotel? The American people should not have to worry about those conflicts of interest — and neither should President Trump. For the good of the country, he should divest from his business empire as soon as possible, put the cash proceeds into United States treasury securities, broadly diversified mutual funds or a blind trust managed by an independent trustee, and then focus on being a good president.' back

vol VII: Notes

2016

Notes

Sunday 27 November 2016

Monday 28 November 2016

Tuesday 29 November 2016

Wednesday 30 November 2016

Thursday 1 December

Friday 2 December 2016

Saturday 3 December 2016

Further reading

Books

Links