Name of 20th Century Philosopher?

June 8, 2009 10:15 AM

In light of the Bertrand Russell thread, help me find this philosopher/writer...

I am looking for the name of a 20th century philosopher.

I remember the following:

-The book was small - tightly written.

-He seemed to be writing that in order to understand our reality we have to define forms or scaffolds for understanding forms into existence in order to understand the forms themselves. I remember Venn diagrams (at least I think I remember them) and lots of thought-as-algebra.

-His name consists of two initials and a last name.

-I seem to remember that it was published in the 70's, but I am not sure when it was initially published.

-I want to say his last name was Green or Greene, but google only turns up pop-culture stuff and nothing I recognize or need.

I read him in the mid-90's, and my high school brain could not quite grasp what he was getting at - perhaps my adult self will have a better time of it. I remember trying to look him up when I still remembered his name in the early 2000's and found the book to be out of print.

The book was given to me by an old man I was friendly with who said: "Well, I have spent 40 years trying to understand it, but maybe it will be easier for you. I have always been the really smart dumb kid, but you are more the average smart one." I think he overestimated that, in light of this question, but...

I got the impression that the author was either not well understood in general, generally obscure, or maybe even disregarded by academia.

My friend is gone, and I can't find the copy of the book he gave me. Knowing only the basics of philosophy and/or logic, I am having a hard time looking. I don't know the right words to use or variants of ideas I could enter in the search-bar.

I have tried to use google to search for things like "form theory" and "drawing distinctions", but keep getting Plato's Theory of Forms.

I would recognize it as soon as I saw it.

Anyone?

posted by Tchad to religion & philosophy (11 comments total)

W. V. Quine?
posted by wheat at 10:24 AM on June 8

A J Ayer: Language, Truth, and Logic (?).
posted by jamjam at 10:27 AM on June 8

Could you be thinking of G. E. Moore's Principia Ethica?
posted by cgc373 at 10:35 AM on June 8

Wow. Linkety-link-link!

Through a series of links I could not begin to recreate, I found it!

The author: (I was thinking of his name as G.S. Brown)
George Spencer-Brown

The book: Laws Of Form
Wikipedia: "Laws of Form, at once a work of mathematics and of philosophy, emerged out of work in electronic engineering Spencer-Brown did around 1960, and from lectures on mathematical logic he later gave under the auspices of the University of London's extension program. First published in 1969, it has never been out of print." (too bad for my shabby early googling, I suppose)

I knew there was a Russell link (from the Wikipedia article):

"In 1964, on Bertrand Russell's recommendation, he became a lecturer in formal mathematics at the University of London. From 1969 onward, he was affiliated with the Department of Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics at the University of Cambridge. In the 1970s and 1980s, he was visiting professor at the University of Western Australia, Stanford University, and at the University of Maryland, College Park."

Thanks for the sparks, guys. So glad I ponied up the $5!

*runs off to nearest used bookstore*
posted by Tchad at 10:57 AM on June 8

Wait. How about T. H. Green? Maybe the Prolegomena to Ethics?
posted by cgc373 at 10:58 AM on June 8

Whoa. Okay then.
posted by cgc373 at 10:58 AM on June 8

I was afraid it might be that book.

Walk, do not run, not to the nearest bookstore, and on your way contemplate a few words from the late, great Martin Gardner about The Laws of Form:

The book, which the British mathematician John Horton Conway once described as beautifully written but "content-free," has a large circle of counterculture devotees. Incidentally, after Brown's announcement that he had proved the four-color theorem was reported in newspapers around the world ...
posted by jamjam at 11:34 AM on June 8

*runs off to nearest used bookstore*

I doubt that it will be that easy; it does seem rare (I find it hard to believe that it has never been out of print, actually) (several copies—most being offered at prices over $100—are listed on eBay).

the late, great Martin Gardner

Gardner is still among the living (unless, of course, he died today or something and the news has not yet circulated).
posted by yz at 1:33 PM on June 8

By the way, Worldcat.org says that several academic or public libraries in your general area hold an edition of the book; the first few:

Loyola University Libraries   Chicago, IL 60626   2 miles
DePaul University             Chicago, IL 60614   4 miles
Evanston Public Library       Evanston, IL 60201  6 miles
Northwestern University       Evanston, IL 60208  6 miles

Such a library might be the best means of gaining access to it.
posted by yz at 1:52 PM on June 8

Brown also wrote this book under his real name. (He doesn't mention this in the bibliography to this book which conveniently lists Laws of Form as recommended reading.)
posted by wittgenstein at 2:33 PM on June 8

Thank you yz, there was no doubt in my mind Gardner had died.

The Wikipedia article makes it sound as if he is still active and enjoying himself at 94, which is excellent news to me! I think I'll finally bestir myself to send him a note telling him how much his work has meant to me over the years.
posted by jamjam at 3:28 PM on June 8