The Big Questions: Tackling the Problems of Philosophy with Ideas from Mathematics, Economics, and Physics

One of the main objections to this book is its lack of coherence and its rough logic. This, to me, is actually necessary in a book exploring such profound questions. The writing certainly gets a little dense, especially early on, but this does not detract from the implications of the questions Landsburg poses. If you like, and can handle, complex theory disguised in subtle ways, and want to learn a thing or two about your own views, I highly recommend this book.

THE BIG QUESTIONS: TACKLING THE PROBLEMS OF PHILOSOPHY WITH IDEAS FROM MATHEMATICS, ECONOMICS, AND PHYSICS comes from an unconventional economist who considers patterns of reality and uses ideas from science and economics to consider major philosophical debates. From right and wrong differences to questions on Darwin's relevance to God, this is a fine title for any debate collection.

If you've read any of his earlier books, you're already aware that Steven Landsburg is a great economist with a writing flair that makes difficult concepts appear easy. What you might not know if you've read only his other books (as opposed to some of his more abstruse journal articles) is that Landsburg is not only a whiz in economics, but in math, and can hold his own in physics and philosophy. So what's an economist with insights into math, physics, and philosophy, who also has a writing flair gonna do for an encore? Write about THE BIG QUESTIONS, of course. What are the big questions? You know...they're the one's we always ask as children without expecting, as adults, to get an answer. Questions like why is there anything rather than nothing, what constitutes knowledge, what is Heisenberg's uncertainty principle and what was Gödel talking about in distinguishing truth from provability. Questions of ethics and questions of education: telling right from wrong, what's best to study, how economists modify the golden rule. How to know if alleged believers really believe what they say. In reading Landsburg's thoughts on these various topics, you feel like you're having a personal conversation--granted, he's doing all the talking, but it's in an inviting, conversational tone--with someone whose given these ideas great thought, saving you lots of time and providing you lots of enjoyment. Does Landsburg ANSWER all of these Big Questions? Of course not. That's not the kind of questions they are, and not the point of the book. But thoughts about big questions, about what kind of answers might fit, about why some attempted answers are clearly wrong, aids in understanding. Easily within reach of the intelligent layperson without technical background in economics, math, physics, or philosophy, this book is highly recommended.

Landsburg once again shows his excellence in making complex topics like Number Theory and Quantum Mechanics accessible to the public. Admittedly you will not have a complete understanding of these topics because you need a PhD for that, but when Landsburg proves his unprovable statements you appreciate the intense academic background he brings to the table. He makes you think, makes you doubt, and enlightens you to some very cool logical conclusions that fall out of math, economics, physics, and philosophy.

The culture I grew up in was mostly hostile to the rational, logical world-view. When I asked the 'big questions' growing up what I heard for the most part was silence. I've had to spend considerable effort and time trying to figure these sort of questions out on my own. I'm not complaining, just noting that the culture I found myself in was in an 'in-between' stage where the myths of the past were still taken far too strongly, and so it was very difficult to find good logical, rational discussion, much less well-thought-through ideas about the questions of 'life, the universe, and everything'. In my mind this book is the perfect gift to that young rationalist human being, who is just starting to seriously ask those big questions of life. It has taken me decades of thinking, reading, and debating with friends to get to many of the points of view this book espouses. Note that I don't agree 100% with everything in this book. However I do agree with a good 90-95+ percent of it, and I have to give the author additional points for laying out his arguments clearly. So even the things I don't agree with I think he gets mostly right, and at the very least is a decent starting point if you've never been exposed to these ideas. As to the criticisms I've read: Yes, he does go after Dawkins, however his argument is in my mind pretty solid. It just so happens that the Creationists are wrong from both angles of the complexity argument. It is really just a matter of taste which argument you want to use (Dawkins's evolutionary argument vs Landsburg's example of ab initio irreducible complexity), they are both very convincing depending exactly what point you are trying to argue. It's just humorous that the Creationists simply can't even win for loosing. Bottom line: If you are a curious rationalist buy this book. Even if you don't agree with the author you will still exercise your current thinking. The worst that will happen is that you will agree with everything he says and will have found a kindred spirit. The best thing that can happen of course is that you will replace a weaker idea with a stronger one. Also, if you are a parent and are blessed with a math/science inclined child, please, please, please buy them a copy!