Labyrinths of Reason: Paradox, Puzzles, and the Frailty of Knowledge - Hardcover

Poundstone, William

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0385242611 ISBN 13: 9780385242615

Publisher: Anchor Press / Doubleday, 1988

Synopsis

Explores the timeless question of how we know what we know by rethinking the paradoxes guiding our understanding in areas such as matter and antimatter, black holes and time travel

About this title

Review:

We conceive of and describe the world in ways that usually work just fine, but in the far corners of the labyrinth of reason, our best intentions fold back on themselves, and we end up trapped in an intractable loop or tumbling down a chute of infinite regress. Labyrinths of Reason is a collection of classic philosophical thought experiments and other imponderables that push reason and language to their logical limits. Beyond just idle brainteasers, William Poundstone shows that these mental exercises have profound implications for such fields as cryptography, decision theory, subatomic physics, and computer programming. But most of all, they're good, clean philosophical fun!

From the Publisher:

This sharply intelligent, consistently provocative book takes the reader on an astonishing, thought-provoking voyage into the realm of delightful uncertainty--a world of paradox in which logical argument leads to contradiction and common sense is seemingly rendered irrelevant.

About this edition

• Publisher: Anchor Press / Doubleday
• Publication date: 1988
• ISBN 10: 0385242611
• ISBN 13: 9780385242615
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 274