January 2014 – Huenemanniac

January 20, 2014

Sea battles, beasties in the blood, and the summer of 1665

In the summer and autumn of 1665, a German expatriate in London exchanged a series of fascinating letters with a renegade Dutch Jew. The expatriate was Henry Oldenburg, who was serving as secretary of the newly-formed Royal Society of London. The Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge – which, if formed… Continue reading

3QD essays, Historical episodes, Spinoza

January 15, 2014

Nicomachus, Introduction to Arithmetic

Nicomachus’s Introduction to Arithmetic is not merely about numbers. It is a treatise aimed at providing a mathematical metaphysics for all entities of any quantity or size whatsoever. It is said that Plato had a sign above the entryway to his academy: “Let no one enter who is ignorant of mathematics”. Nicomachus (c. 60-120 c.e.)… Continue reading

Books, Historical episodes

January 9, 2014

Death of Socrates

The Phaedo concerns one of the most powerful ideas a human being can encounter: the idea of one’s own nonexistence. Socrates is about to die. Any of us in his situation would take seriously the possibility that death is really death, meaning that when one dies, nothing survives. There is no afterlife, no heaven, no… Continue reading

Historical episodes, Meanings of life / death / social & moral stuff