Many assume that circular phenomena and mathematical rigour are irreconcilable. Barwise and Moss have undertaken to prove this assumption false. Vicious Circles is intended for use by researchers who use hypersets, although the book is accessible to people with widely differing backgrounds and interests.
The following is a comment from amazon.com
This book discusses recent advances in the general field of set theory. The authors study a variant of ZF in which the axiom of foundation is replaced by a new axiom allowing non-well-founded sets. Just as the naturals can be extended to the integers, and the integers to the rationals, and the reals to the complex numbers, in each case by positing new numbers that are the solutions to a class of equations, so this book posits an extension to any model of set theory consisting of the solutions to a class of (systems of) equations having no solutions in ZF. The simplest example is the equation
x = {x},
whose solution,
x = {{{{...}}}} (infinitely deep)
is not permitted in ZF, but exists and is unique in the authors' theory.
The purpose of this extension to ZF is to create a set theory in which certain circular or infinite phenomena from computer science and other fields, e.g. cyclic data streams, can be much more directly modeled than is now possible in ZF. Currently in ZF in order to represent a cyclic data stream one has to develop the aparatus for natural numbers, and then represent the stream to be a function from the natural numbers into some suitable set representing the type of data. But in the author's set theory the stream could be represented as an unfounded set that is the solution to a simple equation, and many of its properties could then be more easily deduced without resort to arithmetic.
I found this book absolutely fascinating, and I highly recommend it to anyone who has had a course in set theory. The theory in the book is quite elegant and satisfying.
I was delighted to learn that there is still room for new variations of the axioms of set theory, a subject I thought (probably naively) had been fairly static for 60 years.
Jon Barwise (1942–2000) was professor of philosophy, mathematics, and computer science at Indiana University and one of the founding members of the Center for the Study of Language and Information (CSLI).
Lawrence S. Moss is professor of mathematics; director of the Program in Pure and Applied Logic; an adjunct professor of computer science, informatics, linguistics, and philosophy; and a member of the Programs in Cognitive Science and Computational Linguistics, all at Indiana University, Bloomington.
这本书的语言风格,用一个词来形容,那就是“冷峻的华丽”。它的美感并非那种柔和的、田园牧歌式的,而是一种经过千锤百炼的、棱角分明的金属质感。作者对于长句的驾驭能力令人咋舌,那些结构复杂、修饰繁多的句子,不仅没有拖沓之感,反而以一种古典的韵律感推动着情节向前,读起来有一种沐浴在巴洛克式音乐中的错觉。然而,在如此华丽的辞藻之下,包裹的却是极其残酷和写实的事件。这种反差,极大地增强了故事的张力和冲击力。我特别欣赏作者在描绘冲突场景时所展现出的精准度,每一次肢体接触,每一次情绪的爆发,都被拆解成了极其微小的、可感知的瞬间。这让阅读体验变得非常感官化,几乎可以听见背景中的嘶吼,闻到空气中弥漫的紧张气息。对于追求文学质感的读者来说,这本书的文字本身就值得反复品味和学习。
评分这本书的叙事节奏简直是教科书级别的掌控,从头到尾都牢牢抓住了我的注意力,让人完全沉浸在作者构建的那个复杂而又迷人的世界观中。开篇那种不紧不慢,却步步为营的铺陈,像是在迷雾中引路,一开始看不清全貌,但每走一步,周围的景象就清晰一分。作者对于环境细节的描摹,简直达到了令人发指的程度,那种潮湿的、带着铁锈味的空气,仿佛能透过纸张渗透出来,让我真切地感受到了故事发生的那个特定时空。人物的塑造更是立体得让人心疼,他们的动机、挣扎和最终的选择,都不是非黑即白,而是充满了灰色地带,每一次内心戏的展现都极其真实,充满了人性的光辉与阴影的交织。尤其是主角面对困境时的那种绝望与反抗的拉扯,看得我手心直冒汗,忍不住想替他们做些什么,或者说,想知道他们到底能坚持到哪一步。这本书的魅力就在于,它不急于给出答案,而是让你跟随角色一起在泥泞中摸索,每一次小小的突破都显得弥足珍贵。我已经很久没有读到如此考究文字功底的作品了,那些看似不经意的用词,细究起来都暗藏深意,是那种需要掩卷沉思,回味许久的佳作。
评分我得说,这本书的结构设计简直是神来之笔,它不是一条直线叙事,而更像是一个精密的万花筒,每一个章节的翻转都带来了全新的视角和信息碎片,直到最后才猛然间将所有看似毫无关联的图案拼凑完整。这种叙事手法非常考验读者的耐心和理解力,但一旦你跟上了作者的节奏,那种豁然开朗的震撼感是其他平铺直叙的故事无法比拟的。最让我印象深刻的是作者对于多重时间线的处理,不同时间点的事件交错闪回,每一次切换都巧妙地揭示了前一个场景中隐藏的伏笔,让历史的重量感层层叠加。我甚至有那么一瞬间怀疑过自己的记忆,需要时不时翻回去对照前文的某个细节,以确认我是否完全理解了人物行为背后的复杂逻辑。这种智力上的挑战,对我来说,比单纯的感官刺激更令人满足。这本书不是提供给你一个故事,而是邀请你参与构建一个故事,这种主动参与感是极其难得的阅读体验。它迫使你跳出舒适区,去审视那些你习以为常的叙事惯例,无疑是一次对既有阅读习惯的颠覆。
评分说实话,这本书的哲学思辨性远超出了我最初的预期,我本来以为这只是一部情节驱动的悬疑小说,结果却被卷入了一场关于宿命与自由意志的深刻探讨中。作者似乎对人类存在的本质有着异乎寻常的洞察力,书中那些关于选择的悖论,关于个体在宏大体系中的无力和抗争,简直字字珠玑。每当角色陷入道德困境时,书中的旁白或者对话总能抛出一个直击灵魂的拷问,让你不得不停下来,审视自己的人生观和价值观。我发现自己不再仅仅是关注“接下来会发生什么”,而是更关心“他们为什么会做出这样的选择”,以及“如果是我,我会怎么做”。这种对人性深层驱动力的挖掘,使得角色们的行为逻辑异常坚固,即使他们做出了令人发指的决定,你也能理解其背后的必然性。这种深刻的内省体验,让这本书的阅读过程更像是一次精神上的洗礼,而非单纯的消遣。它不是那种读完就丢在一边的书,它会像一个幽灵一样在你脑海中盘旋很久。
评分我必须强调这本书在世界构建上的野心和成功。它所描绘的那个社会背景,并非简单的未来幻想或架空历史,而是带着浓厚的时代烙印和文化肌理,复杂得像是真实存在过的一个国度。作者在构建这个世界时,投入了大量的精力在社会结构、阶层分化、乃至那些隐藏在日常琐事中的权力运作机制上。你能够清晰地感受到“规矩”是如何塑造了每一个生活在这个世界里的人。这种细节的丰富性,使得故事中的任何一个转折都显得顺理成章,因为所有的可能性都已经被这个既定的世界观所允许和预设。更难得的是,作者并没有陷入过度解释的泥潭,而是通过角色的视角,让你在不知不觉中吸收这些设定。我感觉自己就像一个人类学家,在研究一个失落的文明,充满了探索的乐趣。这本书的底蕴之厚,绝对能支撑起多次重读,每一次都会发现新的社会符号和隐喻,这才是真正伟大的作品所具备的特质。
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