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Secrecy and strategy: Papal Conclave voting rules

Via Vatican News: “The upcoming Conclave starting on May 7 to elect the 267th Pope will be the 76th in the form we know today, which was established by Pope Gregory X in 1274, and the 26th held under the … Continue reading

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Monday music: Oblivion

Now that I have brought my 11-part series on “David Hume in Borges’ Library of Babel” to a close, what better way of marking the end of this intellectual escapade than with a melancholic piece of music performed by one … Continue reading

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David Hume in Borges’ Library of Babel: epilogue

I will conclude my series on “David Hume in the Library of Babel” by returning to to the question I posed in my previous post: Why hope? Why faith? Hope/faith/belief that the decoder book or master index will one day … Continue reading

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An impossible hope?

Act III, scene iii of David Hume in the Library of Babel Below are the last two paragraphs of Jorge Luis Borges’ short story “The Library of Babel.” Here, the Argentine author (pictured above) concludes his story by contrasting “the … Continue reading

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Infidels versus believers in Borges’ Library of Babel

Act III, scene ii of David Hume in the Library of Babel Pictured above is a sample page from a random book in the imaginary world of Jorge Luis Borges’ short story Library of Babel. (Words that are English-sounding are … Continue reading

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Extending Hume’s argument against miracles to Borges’ Infinite Library

Act III, scene i of David Hume in the Library of Babel The last part of Jorge Luis Borges’ short story “The Library of Babel” presents a tantalizing possibility: the existence of a literary holy grail, a master index “that … Continue reading

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Factions in Borges’ Library of Babel

Act II, scene iii of David Hume in the Library of Babel My previous post was about Borges’ paradox: although the Universal Library contains all possible books, including those books that have not yet been written, the probability of finding … Continue reading

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Borges’ paradox

Act II, scene ii of David Hume in the Library of Babel In my previous post, I surveyed the abstract axioms of Borges’ imaginary library. The next paragraph of the story (Para. 8) contains a paradox: the Universal Library contains … Continue reading

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The axioms of Borges’ Library of Babel

Act II, scene i of “David Hume in the Library of Babel” In my previous three posts (see here, here, and here), we revisited the first three paragraphs of Jorge Luis Borges’ The Library of Babel. Today, I will turn … Continue reading

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Sunday song: Summer of ’69

I will resume my series on “David Hume in the Library of Babel” tomorrow. In the meantime, below is one of my all-time favorite 80s hit songs as well as two bonus links:

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