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Dialogi
"Dialogi" to książka pełna prywatnych przemyśleń autora na wiele tematów. Lem przemycił rozważania nie tylko na temat technologii, ale i filozofii, etyki i socjologii ukrywając je pod postacią dyskusji nad rozwojem cybernetyki . Przemyślenia pisarza przedstawione są pod postacią dialogu prowadzonego pomiędzy dwoma intelektualistami - Filonousem i Hylasem.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1957
27 people are currently reading
270 people want to read
About the author
Stanisław Lem
504 books4,513 followersStanisław Lem (staˈɲiswaf lɛm) was a Polish science fiction, philosophical and satirical writer of Jewish descent. His books have been translated into 41 languages and have sold over 27 million copies. He is perhaps best known as the author of Solaris, which has twice been made into a feature film. In 1976, Theodore Sturgeon claimed that Lem was the most widely read science-fiction writer in the world.
His works explore philosophical themes; speculation on technology, the nature of intelligence, the impossibility of mutual communication and understanding, despair about human limitations and humankind's place in the universe. They are sometimes presented as fiction, but others are in the form of essays or philosophical books. Translations of his works are difficult and multiple translated versions of his works exist.
Lem became truly productive after 1956, when the de-Stalinization period led to the "Polish October", when Poland experienced an increase in freedom of speech. Between 1956 and 1968, Lem authored 17 books. His works were widely translated abroad (although mostly in the Eastern Bloc countries). In 1957 he published his first non-fiction, philosophical book, Dialogi (Dialogues), one of his two most famous philosophical texts along with Summa Technologiae (1964). The Summa is notable for being a unique analysis of prospective social, cybernetic, and biological advances. In this work, Lem discusses philosophical implications of technologies that were completely in the realm of science fiction then, but are gaining importance today—like, for instance, virtual reality and nanotechnology. Over the next few decades, he published many books, both science fiction and philosophical/futurological, although from the 1980s onwards he tended to concentrate on philosophical texts and essays.
He gained international fame for The Cyberiad, a series of humorous short stories from a mechanical universe ruled by robots, first published in English in 1974. His best-known novels include Solaris (1961), His Master's Voice (Głos pana, 1968), and the late Fiasco (Fiasko, 1987), expressing most strongly his major theme of the futility of mankind's attempts to comprehend the truly alien. Solaris was made into a film in 1972 by Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky and won a Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1972; in 2002, Steven Soderbergh directed a Hollywood remake starring George Clooney.
He was the cousin of poet Marian Hemar.
His works explore philosophical themes; speculation on technology, the nature of intelligence, the impossibility of mutual communication and understanding, despair about human limitations and humankind's place in the universe. They are sometimes presented as fiction, but others are in the form of essays or philosophical books. Translations of his works are difficult and multiple translated versions of his works exist.
Lem became truly productive after 1956, when the de-Stalinization period led to the "Polish October", when Poland experienced an increase in freedom of speech. Between 1956 and 1968, Lem authored 17 books. His works were widely translated abroad (although mostly in the Eastern Bloc countries). In 1957 he published his first non-fiction, philosophical book, Dialogi (Dialogues), one of his two most famous philosophical texts along with Summa Technologiae (1964). The Summa is notable for being a unique analysis of prospective social, cybernetic, and biological advances. In this work, Lem discusses philosophical implications of technologies that were completely in the realm of science fiction then, but are gaining importance today—like, for instance, virtual reality and nanotechnology. Over the next few decades, he published many books, both science fiction and philosophical/futurological, although from the 1980s onwards he tended to concentrate on philosophical texts and essays.
He gained international fame for The Cyberiad, a series of humorous short stories from a mechanical universe ruled by robots, first published in English in 1974. His best-known novels include Solaris (1961), His Master's Voice (Głos pana, 1968), and the late Fiasco (Fiasko, 1987), expressing most strongly his major theme of the futility of mankind's attempts to comprehend the truly alien. Solaris was made into a film in 1972 by Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky and won a Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1972; in 2002, Steven Soderbergh directed a Hollywood remake starring George Clooney.
He was the cousin of poet Marian Hemar.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
November 22, 2021
“Dialogues” is the first of Stanisław Lem’s nonfiction to be published in English. First published in 1957 in Poland, it was an interesting work exploring the realm of cybernetics. Lem uses the form of dialogues to explain the concept of cybernetics, using two characters called Hylas and Philonous which I suppose come from the 1713 book Three Dialogues Between Hylas and Philonous written by George Berkeley. In Berkeley’s book, three concepts in the fields of metaphysics are are discussed, namely perceptual relativity, the conceivability/master argument, and Berkeley’s phenomenalism. The name of the two characters come from the Greek Philonous “lover of mind” and Hylas “matter”, which in Berkeley’s original work represents Berkeley’s thinker’s opponents, particularly John Locke.
While borrowing the style and the characters from Berkeley, Stanisław Lem also brings fresh ideas in his philosophical essays, although some of Lem’s ideas already look outdated with the advancement of technology since he wrote them. Even in the 1971 foreword, Lem already admits how some of his ideas are proved to be wrong, while there are also some others that are spot on. Not all people will enjoy the form, but it serves as a good medium for philosophical discussions to bring up a topic such as cybernetics which was controversial at that time. The first edition was published only one year after cybernetics stopped being called “bourgeois pseudoscience” in the Eastern Bloc.
Lem begins his discussion in Dialogues I, particularly about atomic consciousness. Much of the discussion in the next Dialogues also revolves around the theme of consciousness. Citing an example of what would happen to the consciousness of an atomic copy of a person if we choose to recreate a similar carbon copy using the atomic structure of an original, Lem’s attempts to rebuke some thoughts about the possibility of creating a clone. If logically it’s possible, Lem also invites us to consider the ethical and philosophical problems that could arise from such action. Readers from the 21st century might notice some parts of the discussion which have turned otherwise. Regardless, it’s an interesting work to reflect how technologies have advanced in the past few decades.
While borrowing the style and the characters from Berkeley, Stanisław Lem also brings fresh ideas in his philosophical essays, although some of Lem’s ideas already look outdated with the advancement of technology since he wrote them. Even in the 1971 foreword, Lem already admits how some of his ideas are proved to be wrong, while there are also some others that are spot on. Not all people will enjoy the form, but it serves as a good medium for philosophical discussions to bring up a topic such as cybernetics which was controversial at that time. The first edition was published only one year after cybernetics stopped being called “bourgeois pseudoscience” in the Eastern Bloc.
Lem begins his discussion in Dialogues I, particularly about atomic consciousness. Much of the discussion in the next Dialogues also revolves around the theme of consciousness. Citing an example of what would happen to the consciousness of an atomic copy of a person if we choose to recreate a similar carbon copy using the atomic structure of an original, Lem’s attempts to rebuke some thoughts about the possibility of creating a clone. If logically it’s possible, Lem also invites us to consider the ethical and philosophical problems that could arise from such action. Readers from the 21st century might notice some parts of the discussion which have turned otherwise. Regardless, it’s an interesting work to reflect how technologies have advanced in the past few decades.
November 20, 2023
Lemowi wydaje się, że wykształcenie matematyczne daje mu wiedzę o każdej innej dziedzinie. Najnudniejsza eseistyka, jaką kiedykolwiek czytałem.
September 21, 2014
Niesamowicie cenię sobie opowiadania i powieści Lema. Uważam go za jednego z najgenialniejszych pisarzy sci-fi, znacząco lepszego od Dicka, Asimova i innych. Jednakże, jeśli chodzi o jego piśmiennictwo filozoficzno -eseistyczne nie jestem w stanie przez nie przebrnąć z jakimkolwiek zadowoleniem. Przede wszystkim dlatego, że Lem pisze bardzo „ciasno” i w paru linijkach zawiera ogromną ilość informacji, które aby zrozumieć trzeba wcześniej posiadać, choć w zarysie. Oczywiście jest wielu filozofów, pisarzy, których w żadnym wypadku nie odrzucam pomimo dość napakowanego w treści pisania jednakże Lem i jego pomysły nie zachwycają mnie na tyle, abym miał ochotę ogromnie wysilać się, aby je zrozumieć w sposób dogłębny. Z ciekawszych rzeczy, które udało mi się tutaj wyłuskać jest to, że Lem jest typowym zwolennikiem simple view w przypadku sporu o tożsamość osobową. Odrzuca także wszystkie argumenty z tzw. „najlepszego kandydata” w przypadku eksperymentów myślowych z podziałami półkul, teleportacją etc. Po za tym treść odnosząca się do biologii wartości, systemu ewolucji społecznej, cybernetyki nie wywarła na mnie większego wrażenia. Następny rok zapewne przeznaczę na przypomnienie sobie wszystkich opowiadań Lema, stanowczo jednak będę omijał cała jego eseistykę.
August 17, 2021
My thanks to NetGalley and to the publisher MIT Press for an advanced copy of this collection of scientific essays.
The late Polish science fiction writer and thinker Stanislaw Lem collection of essays Dialogues is translated for the first time into English by Peter Butko. Conceived and written in 1957 the essays deal with the subject of cybernetics, a new field that Mr. Lem was quite high on and expected great things from. Later in 1972 Mr. Lem updated the books, as more knowledge showed that his great dreams for cybernetics should be tempered by reality.
The form of the book was borrowed form George Berkeley's Three Dialogues Between Hylas and Philonous. Instead of three dialogues, Mr. Lem made seven at the time, and two more later in 1972.
The book is interesting, if dated. For a fan of Mr. Lem's science fiction tales it is not necessary even for a completest. The book has it's moments and at no time was I bored, even though some of it was way above my paygrade in reading, but I never really thought about giving up on the book.
The late Polish science fiction writer and thinker Stanislaw Lem collection of essays Dialogues is translated for the first time into English by Peter Butko. Conceived and written in 1957 the essays deal with the subject of cybernetics, a new field that Mr. Lem was quite high on and expected great things from. Later in 1972 Mr. Lem updated the books, as more knowledge showed that his great dreams for cybernetics should be tempered by reality.
The form of the book was borrowed form George Berkeley's Three Dialogues Between Hylas and Philonous. Instead of three dialogues, Mr. Lem made seven at the time, and two more later in 1972.
The book is interesting, if dated. For a fan of Mr. Lem's science fiction tales it is not necessary even for a completest. The book has it's moments and at no time was I bored, even though some of it was way above my paygrade in reading, but I never really thought about giving up on the book.
Read
August 6, 2023Almost half the book is good metaphysics, with a lot of feedback systems theory as foundation. There's a middle part with a bunch of questionable economics, and then ten pages of gibberish, presumably thrown in to allay the suspicions of the dictator. May be some worthwhile to think about modeling possibilities.
August 26, 2021
Note: I received an ARC from NetGalley.
I thought this was a decent read. I liked the dialogue format of the writing, and even though I didn't agree with everything Lem wrote back then, it was thought-provoking. Some good ideas are packed in here.
I thought this was a decent read. I liked the dialogue format of the writing, and even though I didn't agree with everything Lem wrote back then, it was thought-provoking. Some good ideas are packed in here.
September 18, 2021
It was an interesting read, a bit dated but full of food for thought. It's not easy read but I liked it.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
September 28, 2022
Первая треть хорошая и интересная, но где-то на 43% начинаются Маркс и пропаганда социализма. Not my cup of tea
January 18, 2025
Dosyć rozwijająca i dająca do myślenia, ale męcząca. Język dosyć trudnym w odbiorze. Rozmyślania wręcz pionierskie jak na czas powstania książki.
May 26, 2015
Czy mógłbym nazwać ten tytuł "Magnum Opus twórczości Lema"? Raczej nie. Sama książka, mimo bycia jedną z pierwszych publikacji autora, stanowi idealny pokaz geniuszu skrytego w jego umyśle. "Dialogi" przedstawiają dialog pomiędzy Filonousem i Hylasem, dwoma myślicielami żywcem przeniesionymi z rozważań Berkeleya. Rozmowy pomiędzy dwoma intelektualistami poruszają szeroki wachlarz tematów, z czego najbardziej prominentnym zdaje się być rozwój cybernetyki.
W zasadzie książka zdaje się mieć tylko jedną wadę. Nie da się ukryć, że w dysputach filozoficznych bohaterów zwycięzcą jest zawsze Filonous. Autor faworyzuje jego opinie i co chwila czytając książkę dostrzegamy jak Hylas jest poprawiany przez swojego przyjaciela. Nie byłoby to aż tak irytujące, gdyby nie nagminność tego typu zdarzeń. Książka byłaby znacznie bardziej wciągająca, gdyby dyskusja pomiędzy nimi była bardziej zażarta, a wypowiedzi dysputantów prezentowały się bardziej ambiwalentnie. Wciąż jednak jest to książka napisana ku czci rozumu i polecam ją każdemu szukającemu inteligentnej lektury.
W zasadzie książka zdaje się mieć tylko jedną wadę. Nie da się ukryć, że w dysputach filozoficznych bohaterów zwycięzcą jest zawsze Filonous. Autor faworyzuje jego opinie i co chwila czytając książkę dostrzegamy jak Hylas jest poprawiany przez swojego przyjaciela. Nie byłoby to aż tak irytujące, gdyby nie nagminność tego typu zdarzeń. Książka byłaby znacznie bardziej wciągająca, gdyby dyskusja pomiędzy nimi była bardziej zażarta, a wypowiedzi dysputantów prezentowały się bardziej ambiwalentnie. Wciąż jednak jest to książka napisana ku czci rozumu i polecam ją każdemu szukającemu inteligentnej lektury.
February 10, 2014
how do i do/ work marked
July 10, 2016
Książka częściowo się mocno zestarzała, a częściowo jest zaskakująco aktualna.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews