2013-04-28

Jorge Luis Borges, Stanislaw Lem, & ars combinatoria

My justification for writing about Borges on this blog is his tangential connection with artificial languages and their philosophical ramifications, that is, when not referencing the translation or appearance of Borges in Esperanto. Borges wrote about the philosophical language of John Wilkins, and there is his phenomenal story "The Congress." Otherwise, I would write about Borges in English elsewhere. But there is one more related aspect, taking off from the history of philosophical languages, the ars combinatoria or art of combinations. I write about this topic on this blog and refer elsewhere where my ideas are elaborated.  Here is my latest post on my Studies in a Dying Culture blog:

Stanislaw Lem on Jorge Luis Borges (Borges 16)

Lem admires Borges but finds him limited to constructing heretical versions of the intellectual heritage of the past. “The author therefore has the courage to deal with the most valuable goals of mankind just as mankind himself does. The only difference is that Borges continues these combinatory operations to their utmost logical conclusions.”

For the sake of completeness, here are the other Borges posts on that blog:

Little Tiny, Common Objects, & Jorge Luis Borges

Borges Revisited (14)

And here again is my overall guide to my work on Borges:

Jorge Luis Borges: Selected Study Materials on the Web

As both Borges and Lem have been translated into Esperanto, perhaps Lem's essay on Borges should also be translated into Esperanto. And perhaps also some of what I've been writing in English.

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