On Monday, November 14, 2005 at 3:38:19 AM UTC-8, Danil wrote:
Simon Tatham says...
I remember this quote too. I had a vague memory that he was
introduced as `Professor Smullyan' rather than `Raymond Smullyan',
and so I googled for "Professor Smullyan" "you don't exist". This
threw up exactly two hits. The first
http://www.listserv.uga.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind9908d&L=conch-l&F=&S=&P=16042
cites it as appearing in Smullyan's own book `What is the Name of
This Book?', on p201 (in some edition or other :-).
Bingo! Thanks
"I once gave a talk on my logic puzzles to an undergraduate mathematics
club. I was introduced by the logician Melvin Fitting (a former student
of mine, who knows me extremely well). His introduction really captures
the spirit of this book almost better than the book itself! He said, 'I
now introduce Professor Smullyan, who will prove to you that either he doesn't exist or you don't exist, but you won't know which.'
_What is the Name of This Book_, Chapter 14 (How To Prove Anything),
puzzle #238. Sure enough, it appears on page 201 of the 1978 hardbound edition. Also on the dust jacket.
I'd imagine that looking up the quotation in WitNoTB? ought to give you the rest of the details.
if i had to pick one Smullyan book (e.g. to take to a desert island), this one would be it.
the 2nd might be tTiS or FU:aPGtG
WitNoTB ---------- maybe [i] should be uppercase ?
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