Rudolf Kurth Books

This monograph constructs classical statistical mechanics as a deductive system, based on the equations of motion and the basic postulates of probability. The treatment consists chiefly of theorems and proofs that are expressed in a manner that reveals the theory's logical structure. Requiring only familiarity with the elements of calculus and analytical geometry, Axiomatics of Classical Statistical Mechanics is geared toward advanced undergraduates and graduate students in mathematical physics. An opening chapter on mathematical tools makes the text as self-contained as possible. Subsequent chapters explore the phase flows of mechanical systems, the initial distribution of probability in the phase space, and both time-dependent and time-independent probability distributions. A final chapter covers statistical thermodynamics.

The book deals with the problems of meaning, truth, and proof as they are encountered in logic and mathematics. To Kant it owes the basic concepts of scheme and regulative idea, and the insight that constructivity is the very root of mathematics is «synthetic», logic is «analytic». Husserl's notion of ideation and Brentano's «descriptive psychology» have contributed to methodological clarifications.

Im «Tractatus Theologico-Politicus» gab Spinoza eine Antwort auf die Frage nach dem Sinn des Daseins. Die drei Teile jener Antwort bilden das klärende und ordnende Prinzip der hier vorgelegten kurzen Aufsätze und Bemerkungen zur Grundlegung der Ethik, zur Geschlechtsmoral, über das persönliche, soziale, politische und geistige Leben. Der abschliessende Versuch, das drei-einige Ziel zu deuten, mag am tiefsten Bruno und dem Kusaner verpflichtet sein.