| Abstract: | It is necessary to distinguish between Boltzmann’s original lecture notes, his extemporaneous lectures, the fair copy of philosophy
lectures 3 to 18 by an unknown hand which are mostly on mathematics, and the multi-published versions which only include lectures
1 and 2. There is a difference between his real thought in his notes (or “honne” in Japanese) and what seems to have survived
in lectures 1 and 2 for public consumption (“tatamae”). We have stuck with honne, but where it is too abbreviated to make
initial sense, we have put it in grammatical and intelligible form as what we think he most probably intended or believed.
It was precisely his linguistic philosophy and the relativistic and pragmatic way of presenting it which was largely suppressed
or at least toned-down in the fair copy and published versions. Listeners remembered how witty he was when speaking, and the
shortened published accounts are also interesting, but his first thoughts, his honne, before prudence set in will interest
most readers, though alas as happens with notes there is also some extraneous material. In translating most of the notes for
the first three lectures we have ended where mathematics begins to predominate.
This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date. |
