At 06:41 PM 5/27/96 GMT, Michael Pennamacoor wrote:
Somehow Emma has related
>even loosely identified 'uncertainty'/'indeterminancy'/'chaos' et al with
>the (seemingly 'poetic') style of Heidegger (seemingly because it too is
>beautiful). I find this strange on several counts:
>
>1) Heidegger's writing is very precise but not in the sense that
>accountancy is.
>
This remark suggests that there is (perhaps 'mathematical') precision to the
field of accountancy, something difficult to accept given the huge variety
and mindnumbing complexity of conceptual approaches within that field.
>4) the argument seems to be that 'chaos theory' is beautiful;
>Heidegger's thought is beautiful; thus: 'chaos theory' and Heidegger are
>The Same - and Heisenberg speaks of inherent 'uncertainty' in beings;
>Heidegger speaks of the innate indeterminateness of Being; thus: Heidegger
>and Heisenberg speak of The Same; and thus: they are amenable without
>violence to The Same mode of analysis - say, the mathematical.
>
This is a misrepresentation of my words, employing propositional logic to
reduce human thoughts to a matter of set-membership. Nor did I say that
Heidegger's thought was beautiful. The claim was that Heidegger's thought
might be considered mathematically beautiful by those who find mathematics
beautiful (as suggested by a comment from Dr. Odor). This claim does not
amount to an identification of mathematics and Heideggerian thought, but
points to a similarity between them.
More specifically, my point was that mathematical thought, as well being
used to predict outcomes, is capable of allowing for uncertainty of outcome
(in any of several theoretical approaches, which, incidentally, do not have
to be consistent for the sake of the argument). If this is the case, then
although mathematics uses precise terms, it is not always a precise
predicting apparatus. And if mathematics can be used without demanding
certainty of outcome, then it may be capable of representing existential
conditions.
Emma Rooksby
Murdoch University
Western Australia.
--- from list heidegger@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ---
Somehow Emma has related
>even loosely identified 'uncertainty'/'indeterminancy'/'chaos' et al with
>the (seemingly 'poetic') style of Heidegger (seemingly because it too is
>beautiful). I find this strange on several counts:
>
>1) Heidegger's writing is very precise but not in the sense that
>accountancy is.
>
This remark suggests that there is (perhaps 'mathematical') precision to the
field of accountancy, something difficult to accept given the huge variety
and mindnumbing complexity of conceptual approaches within that field.
>4) the argument seems to be that 'chaos theory' is beautiful;
>Heidegger's thought is beautiful; thus: 'chaos theory' and Heidegger are
>The Same - and Heisenberg speaks of inherent 'uncertainty' in beings;
>Heidegger speaks of the innate indeterminateness of Being; thus: Heidegger
>and Heisenberg speak of The Same; and thus: they are amenable without
>violence to The Same mode of analysis - say, the mathematical.
>
This is a misrepresentation of my words, employing propositional logic to
reduce human thoughts to a matter of set-membership. Nor did I say that
Heidegger's thought was beautiful. The claim was that Heidegger's thought
might be considered mathematically beautiful by those who find mathematics
beautiful (as suggested by a comment from Dr. Odor). This claim does not
amount to an identification of mathematics and Heideggerian thought, but
points to a similarity between them.
More specifically, my point was that mathematical thought, as well being
used to predict outcomes, is capable of allowing for uncertainty of outcome
(in any of several theoretical approaches, which, incidentally, do not have
to be consistent for the sake of the argument). If this is the case, then
although mathematics uses precise terms, it is not always a precise
predicting apparatus. And if mathematics can be used without demanding
certainty of outcome, then it may be capable of representing existential
conditions.
Emma Rooksby
Murdoch University
Western Australia.
--- from list heidegger@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ---