[FOM] Goedel on Philosophy

[Harvey Friedman]

http://www.ucalgary.ca/~rzach/logblog/2007/02/gdel-quote.html

"Today, philosophy has arrived, at best, at the point mathematics was at in
Babylonian times."

This is in exact correspondence with what Goedel said to me when I visited
him for two weeks in 1977, about six months before he died in January, 1978.

My overall impression was that Goedel felt that Philosophy would have a very
bright future - like mathematics - only that it is very difficult to make
substantial progress.

Note that, at least implicitly, Goedel suggests that progress in Philosophy
can be judged - judged in such a way that can be compared to progress in
mathematics. 

Many Philosophers that I know do not believe in such a notion of "progress"
in philosophy.

I am wondering what FOM subscribers think about this.

Harvey Friedman