Originally posted by vistesd I read Aleph, which started out with Cantor; maybe I should look at it again.
I'm glad you laughed; I had this OMG moment after I got started back into working with rabbinical hermeneutics (midrash really is quite proto-postmodern), and I thought: "Oh, Bosse would love this!"
Be well, old friend.
Mind-boggling is the only word for it. Cantor shows that some infinities are bigger than others. And much more. Not only that, but he claimed the transfinite numbers (omega, aleph) were revealed to him by God. The way he discovered his proofs reminds me of gematria. Well, at the very least I have a better idea of the principles underlying the Library of Babel.
Right now I want to dust off my copy of Yates' The Art of Memory.
Derrida was the foremost expondent of poststructuralist midrash. Most of his stuff acts on me like a sedative, but there are moments. His work on aporia is quite haunting, especially the one about the monstrosity of forgiveness, where he comes out as a rabbi.
Originally posted by Palynka Which book? Is it good? (apologies for the intrusion)
Robert & Ellen Kaplan, The Art of the Infinite. For me it's great, really helps to understand the nuts and bolts of modern mathematics. Might be too simple for you. Cantor features in the final chapter, 'The Abyss'.
Originally posted by Bosse de Nage Robert & Ellen Kaplan, The Art of the Infinite. For me it's great, really helps to understand the nuts and bolts of modern mathematics. Might be too simple for you. Cantor features in the final chapter, 'The Abyss'.
I'll look for that (though perhaps I'll re-read Aleph first).
Originally posted by Bosse de Nage Mind-boggling is the only word for it. Cantor shows that some infinities are bigger than others. And much more. Not only that, but he claimed the transfinite numbers (omega, aleph) were revealed to him by God. The way he discovered his proofs reminds me of gematria. Well, at the very least I have a better idea of the principles underlying the Library o ...[text shortened]... unting, especially the one about the monstrosity of forgiveness, where he comes out as a rabbi.
Derrida was the foremost expondent of poststructuralist midrash. Most of his stuff acts on me like a sedative, but there are moments.
I agree. I think I ordered Levinas’ book on his Talmudic presentations. Let me double-check. Marc Alain-Ouaknin (who is really my Talmudic guide; also a kabbalist) draw on Derrida a bit (and Levinas a lot) in his book The Burnt Book: Reading the Talmud. He’s very much into an existentialist and postmodern view of Talmud (and he’s a rabbi, Orthodox I think). If one is willing to jump in at the "deep end" (and you certainly are able to), I think his is the best book on reading Talmud--and the whole Talmudic approach.
Originally posted by vistesd [b]Derrida was the foremost expondent of poststructuralist midrash. Most of his stuff acts on me like a sedative, but there are moments.
I agree. I think I ordered Levinas’ book on his Talmudic presentations. Let me double-check. Marc Alain-Ouaknin (who is really my Talmudic guide; also a kabbalist) draw on Derrida a bit (and Levinas a lot) in h ...[text shortened]... are able to), I think his is the best book on reading Talmud--and the whole Talmudic approach.[/b]
That sounds good, although 'Talmudic presentations' makes me think of something done with PowerPoint.
Levinas? You might be interested in Graham Harman, then. An American philosopher who has come up with something he calls object-oriented philosophy: departing from Heidegger, taking in Whitehead, Levinas & others, but rather interesting in his own right.
Calling out blackbeetle and Bosse de Nage...
06 Jan '10 08:38
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