Academics From Hungary

"It may possibly be true that, to continue to live on and to act in a world like ours, it is vitally necessary to seek a way out of this uncertainty of multiple alternatives; and accordingly people may be led to embrace some immediate goal as if it were absolute, by which they hope to make their problems appear concrete and real. But it is not primarily the man of action who seeks the absolute and immutable, but rather it is he who wishes to induce others to hold on to the status quo because he feels comfortable and smug under conditions as they are."

"In order to be transmuted into knowledge, every perception is and must be ordered and organized into categories. The extent, however, to which we can organize and express our experience in such conceptual forms is, in turn, dependent upon the frames of reference which happen to be available at a given historical moment. The concepts which we have and the universe of discourse in which we move, together with the directions in which they tend to elaborate themselves, are dependent largely upon the historical-social situation of the intellectually active and responsible members of the group."

"At this point in history when all things which concern man and the structure and elements of history itself are suddenly revealed to us in a new light, it behooves us in our scientific thinking to become masters of the situation, for it is not inconceivable that sooner than we suspect, as has often been the case before in history, this vision may disappear, the opportunity may be lost, and the world will once again present a static, uniform, and inflexible countenance."

"It has become extremely questionable whether, in the flux of life, it is a genuinely worthwhile intellectual problem to seek to discover fixed and immutable ideas or absolutes. It is a more worthy intellectual task perhaps to learn to think dynamically and relationally rather than statically."

"To-day, there are too many points of view of equal value and prestige, each showing the relativity of the other, to permit us to take any one position and to regard it as impregnable and absolute. Only this socially disorganized intellectual situation makes possible the insight, hidden until now by a generally stable social structure and the practicability of certain traditional norms, that every point of view is particular to a social situation."

"It may indeed be true that in order to act we need a certain amount of self-confidence and intellectual self-assurance. It may also be true that the very form of expression, in which we clothe our thoughts, tends to impose upon them an absolute tone."

"A modern theory of knowledge which takes account of the relational as distinct from the merely relative character of all historical knowledge must start with the assumption that there are spheres of thought in which it is impossible to conceive of absolute truth existing independently of the values and position of the subject and unrelated to the social context. Even a god could not formulate a proposition on historical subjects like 2 x 2 = 4, for what is intelligible in history can be formulated only with reference to problems and conceptual constructions which themselves arise in the flux of historical experience."

"In our contemporary social and intellectual plight, it is nothing less than shocking to discover that those persons who claim to have discovered an absolute are usually the same people who also pretend to be superior to the rest. To find people in our day attempting to pass off to the world and recommending to others some nostrum of the absolute which they claim to have discovered is merely a sign of the loss of and the need for intellectual and moral certainty, felt by broad sections of the population who are unable to look life in the face."

"The general form of the total conception of ideology is being used by the analyst when he has the courage to subject not just the adversary's point of view but all points of view, including his own, to the ideological analysis. At the present stage of our understanding it is hardly possible to avoid this general formulation of the total conception of ideology, according to which the thought of all parties in all epochs is of an ideological character."

"The particular conception of "ideology" makes its analysis of ideas on a purely psychological level. If it is claimed for instance that an adversary is lying, or that he is concealing or distorting a given factual situation, it is still nevertheless assumed that both parties share common criteria of validity — it is still assumed that it is possible to refute lies and eradicate sources or error by referring to accepted criteria of objective validity common to both parties. The suspicion that one's opponent is the victim of an ideology does not go so far as to exclude him from discussion on the basis of a common theoretical frame of reference. The case is different with the total conception of ideology. When we attribute to one historical epoch one intellectual world and to ourselves another one, or if a certain historically determined social stratum thinks in categories other than our own, we refer not to the isolated cases of thought-content, but to fundamentally divergent thought-systems and to widely differing modes of experience and interpretation."

"The particular conception of ideology operates primarily with a psychology of interests, while the total conception uses a more formal functional analysis, without any reference to motivations, confining itself to an objective description of the structural differences in minds operating in different social settings. The former assumes that this or that interest is the cause of a given lie or deception. The latter presupposes simply that there is a correspondence between a given social situation and a given perspective, point of view, or apperception mass. In this case, while an analysis of constellations of interests may often be necessary it is not to establish causal connections but to characterize the total situation. Thus interest psychology tends to be displaced by an analysis of the correspondence between the situation to be known and the forms of knowledge."

"The thought of every group is seen as arising out of its life conditions. Thus, it becomes the task of the sociological history of thought to anlayse without regard for party biases all the factors in the actually existing social situation which may influence thought. This sociologically oriented history of ideas is destined to provide modern men with a revised view of the whole historical process."

"In general there are two distinct and separable meanings of the term "ideology" — the particular and the total. The particular conception of ideology is implied when the term denotes that we are sceptical of the ideas and representations advanced by our opponent. They are regarded as more or less conscious disguises of the real nature of a situation, the true recognition of which would not be in accord with his interests. These distortions range all the way from conscious lies to half-conscious and unwitting disguises; from calculated attempts to dupe others to self-deception. This conception of ideology, which has only gradually become differentiated from the common-sense notion of the lie is particular in several senses. Its particularity becomes evident when it is contrasted with the more inclusive total conception of ideology. Here we refer to the ideology of an age or of a concrete historico-social group, e.g. of a class, when we are concerned with the characteristics and composition of the total structure of the mind of this epoch or of this group. Although they have something in common, there are also significant differences between them."

"In attempting to expose the views of another, one is forced to make one's own view appear infallible and absolute, which is a procedure altogether to be avoided if one is making a specifically non-evaluative investigation. The second possible approach is nevertheless to combine such a non-evaluative analysis with a definite epistemology. Viewed from the angle of this second approach there are two separate and distinct solutions to the problem of what constitutes reliable knowledge — the one solution may be termed relationism, and the other relativism."

"Whereas the particular conception of ideology designates only a part of the opponent's assertions as ideologies — and this only with reference to their content, the total conception calls into question the opponent's total Weltanschauung (including his conceptual apparatus), and attempts to understand these concepts as an outgrowth of the collective life of which he partakes."

"Relativism is a product of the modern historical-sociological procedure which is based on the recognition that all historical thinking is bound up with the concrete position in life of the thinker [Standortsgebundenheit des Denkers]. But relativism combines this historical-sociological insight with an older theory of knowledge which was as yet unaware of the interplay between conditions of existence and modes of thought, and which modelled its knowledge after static prototypes such as might be exemplified by the proposition 2 x 2 = 4. This older type of thought, which regarded such examples as the model of all thought, was necessarily led to the rejection of all those forms of knowledge which were dependent upon the subjective standpoint and the social situation of the knower, and which were, hence, merely "relative"."

"Von Neumann was exceptionally widely known among mathematicians, and there are plenty of anecdotes related to him. I think that as a student, I heard from my professor A. Rényi the saying: ‘‘Other mathematicians prove what they can, Neumann what he wants.’’"

"He was one of the most attractive people I’ve ever known, attractive in the sense that he knew so much and could reason in front of people and show them what was going on so well, it was really quite wonderful. He also had a good sense of humor. ... He was wonderful, and I was really crushed when I found out that he had cancer."

"He had a real knack for calculatin."

"Brilliant mathematician."

"John von Neumann was one of the greatest mathematicians of the 20th century."

"The first thing that people recall about John von Neumann is his phenomenal speed of thought. He didn’t have to remember things; he computed them. If he was asked a question and didn’t know the answer, he would think for three seconds and produce a response. Yet, fast thinking was not his most outstanding characteristic. He was also very deep. It is the breadth of his scientific heritage that amazes me the most."

"Two were in their early twenties: Eugene Wigner, who became a great theoretical physicist, and Johnny von Neumann, whose brilliance as a mathematician is internationally acknowledged."

"I think that in terms of mathematical intelligence, he was virtually unparalleled."

"A great mathematician in his or any era."

"Johnny von Neumann was so valuable, not only as a mathematician but in virtually every field, that he was welcome to work with us even for very short periods. He was allowed to come and go freely."

"A memory which seemed to operate with even more speed than his machines enabled him to bring up, from his vast and well-indexed mental filing system, stories appropriate to whatever occasion."

"Johnny was the most versatile and brilliant scientist I have ever known. His mind operated at speeds that suggested neural superconductivity."

"The relationship with Weyl was so close that the 22-year-old student von Neumann finished his lecture on axiomatics in February 1925 when Weyl had to take a health-related leave. In doing so, Weyl reported to the Swiss School Council that von Neumann, alongside Hilbert, was "the most expert among present mathematicians" in this field and that he himself in his lecture had "presented the subject in that form which had emerged from the unpublished investigations of Mr. Neumann.""

"John von Neumann was one whose talents reached so widely, I could talk to him about the puzzles of the geometry around what we today call a black hole."

"I spent the rest of 1936 preparing for my trip to the United States, where von Neumann, with whom I had enjoyed friendly relations at least since 1930, had arranged for me to spend the second semester (from January through May, 1937) at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton."

"The two mathematicians now or recently active in America who have adopted a similar point of view are—and I believe not by coincidence—two of the greatest forces in modern mathematics, namely, Hermann Weyl and John von Neumann."

"But John von Neumann had a marvelous interest in history. He had read the Cambridge Medieval History, [the] Cambridge Ancient History, and he had a phenomenal memory, so he could recite whole paragraphs from the Cambridge Ancient History and tell me about the Council of Nicea, for instance. But to become a member of the Atomic Energy Commission, I'm sure he was very useful, but it was so far removed from making use of this marvelous scientific imagination of his that I keep wondering if we made the best use of him."

"Many mathematicians have suffered in fact by comparing themselves with von Neumann."

"Von Neumann and Fermi, in particular, were enormously helpful. Both had the most stunning ability to listen to a recital of current problems for only an hour or two and then provide comments or calculations that would show the way to overcoming the problems. They also enriched the life of the lab by giving colloquium talks on almost every visit."

"Especially as it brought me back in association with John von Neumann, whose great skill in mathematics I had first observed in Europe when he was a boy of seventeen."

"The extensive work Mathematische Begründung der Quantentheorie also testifies to the extraordinary talent of the author in the appropriation and assimilation of a large area of material."

"Incredible rapidity."

"John von Neumann became one of the world’s greatest mathematicians and went on to father the digital computer, a device that is revolutionizing all walks of life."

"Quantum mechanics was very fortunate indeed to attract, in the very first years after its discovery in 1925, the interest of a mathematical genius of von Neumann's stature."

"It is indeed supremely difficult to effectively refute the claim that John von Neumann is likely the most intelligent person who has ever lived."

"His memory and unlimited scope of universal interests was amazing. At that time we probably did not attach any further significance to this, nor did we evaluate or even could have evaluated the incredible multiplicity and diversification of the innumerable subjects so discussed. But later, perhaps decades later, many of these subjects reappeared in his scientific work (directly, or in the background), and he had no difficulty in recovering these or related ideas from his memory as they became relevant in specific instances."

"Universal mind."

"Johnny was probably the most brilliant star in this constellation of scientists."

"I remember that in 1927, when he came to Lwów (in Poland) to attend a congress of mathematicians, his work in foundations of mathematics and set theory was already famous. This was already mentioned to us, a group of students, as an example of the work of a youthful genius."

"Von Neumann was a giant in the breadth of his knowledge."

"Quite aware that the criteria of value in mathematical work are, to some extent, purely aesthetic, he once expressed an apprehension that the values put on abstract scientific achievement in our present civilization might diminish: "The interests of humanity might change, the present curiosities in science may cease, and entirely different things may occupy the human mind in the future." One conversation centered on the ever accelerating progress of technology and changes in the mode of human life, which gives the appearance of approaching some essential singularity in the history of the race beyond which human affairs, as we know them, could not continue."

"As a mathematician, von Neumann was quick, brilliant, efficient, and enormously broad in scientific interests beyond mathematics itself. He knew his technical abilities; his virtuosity in following complicated reasoning and his insights were supreme; yet he lacked absolute self-confidence."

"His quickness was quite remarkable."

"For Wigner, von Neumann and thinking were synonymous."