If this website
provokes you to further reading on these ideas and concepts, we
suggest:
Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, by Douglas
R. Hofstadter, 1979, Basic Books.
This 1980 Pulitzer Prize winning best-seller brought the ideas of Kurt
Godel to a wide audience, and anticipated much of the computer
revolution.
Incompleteness: The Proof and Paradox of Kurt Godel, by
Rebecca Goldstein, 2005, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Although in her own "Suggested Readings" section from this book,
Goldstein lists, of course, Hoftstadter's seminal work, the list
erroneously states the date of Hoftstadter's book as 1974, not the
correct 1979. It is nonetheless, a fine book about Godel's
revolutionary ideas, and about the times in which he lived.
The Denial of Death, by Ernest Becker, 1973, The Free
Press.
This 1974 Pulitzer Prize winner is Becker's attempt to answer the most
fundamental question of human existence- "why?" Becker, a
distinguished scholar and social theorist, uses Otto Rank as an
important part of that explanation. Rank's work and ideas are
well-described, and Rank's influence on Becker is quite evident.
Escape From Evil, by Ernest Becker, 1975, The Free
Press.
This follow-up to Becker's Pulitzer Prize winning "The Denial of
Death" is dedicated "In Memory of Otto Rank, whose thought may well
prove to be the rarest gift of Freud's disciples to the world." Becker
describes Rank's influence: "You cannot merely praise his work because
in its stunning brilliance it is often fantastic, gratuitous,
superlative.... (Rank's) thought may well prove to be the rarest gift
of Freud's disciples to the world."
Acts of Will: The Life and Work of Otto Rank, by E.
James Lieberman, M.D., 1985, The Free Press.
An important, well-written account of the life and work of Otto Rank.
Godel's Proof, by Ernest Nagel and James K. Newman, 1958
and 1986, New York University Press. Re-issued in 2001. One of the
first books to present in accessible form Godel's ideas and the
implications of his "proof." The back cover of the 2001 republication
proclaimed "a revised edition of a best-selling classic."
Logical Dilemmas: The Life and Work of Kurt Godel, by
John W. Dawson, Jr., 1997, A.K. Peters, Ltd.
A full biography that explores the relationship between his
personality and his scientific achievements, and the impact both have
had on the wider world.
Godel: A Life of Logic, by John L. Casti and Werner
DePauli, 2000, Perseus Publishing
Casti and DePauli flatly state "Godel always rejected totalitarian
ideologies." To those who share that outlook, the utility of Godel's
Incompleteness Theorem should be completely and totally obvious.
Godel's Theorem In Focus, edited by S.G. Shanker, 1988,
Croom Helm, Ltd.
A collection of articles and essays by leading scholars on Godel's
life and work. Contributors include John Dawson (a short, succinct
biographical sketch), an overview of Godel's work by Stephen Kleene,
and Shanker's own essay on Wittgenstein's famous remarks on the
significance of Godel's Theorem.
Otto Rank: A Rediscovered Legacy, by Esther Menaker,
1982, Columbia University Press.
Otto Rank: A Biographical Study, by Jesse Taft, 1958,
Julien.
Freud and His Followers, by Paul Roazen, 1975, Alfred A.
Knopf
AND, these books by Rank's own hand:
The Myth of the Birth of the Hero: A Psychological
Interpretation of Mythology, by Otto Rank, 1922 (English
translation 2004), The Johns Hopkins University Press. With an
introduction by Robert A. Segal, PhD.. Globalization by way of
psychology; a template into which Harry Potter fits comfortably.
Art and Artist: Creative Urge and Personality Development,
by Otto Rank, 1932, Alfred A. Knopf
Lieberman calls this book "Rank's most important book and the
culmination of his genius as a writer and scholar, "Art and Artist"
will eventually take it's place among the great works on the history
of art and the psychology of creativity." This eventuality is one "The
Mighty Quinn" means to hasten, with a crucial assist from the art of
Bob Dylan.
And the posthumously published
Beyond Psycholog.by Otto Rank, published posthumously
(and privately) 1941, Dover paperback, 1958.
