Kurt Gödel: Philosophische Notizbücher / Philosophical Notebooks, Bd. Band 6, Maximen VI / Maxims VI

Over a period of 22 years (1934-1955), the mathematician Kurt Gödel wrote down philosophical remarks, the so-called Maximen Philosophie (Max Phil). They are preserved in 15 notebooks in Gabelsberger shorthand. The first booklet contains general philosophical considerations, booklets two and three consist of Gödel's individual ethics. The following books show that Gödel developed a philosophy of science in which he places his discussions on physics, psychology, biology, mathematics, language, theology and history in the context of a metaphysics.

A complete, historical-critical edition of Gödel's Philosophical Notebooks is now being prepared for the first time at the Kurt Gödel Research Centre of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. One volume will be published each year as part of this edition.

Volume 6 is in some respects a continuation of 'Maximen V'. From a systematic point of view, three major subject areas in particular can be identified, namely: (I) spirit, soul, ego, consciousness, mind; (II) perception as sensory perception, but also perception through the mind or by means of feeling; and (III) language, in which Gödel deals with the word, the sentence, speech, the concept and judgement, among other things.