The main text for this course is:
Hofstadter, Douglas R. Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid. Basic Books, 1999. ISBN: 9780465026562.
Readings are listed by page number in the table below.
| WEEK # | TOPICS | READINGS | DIALOGUES | DIALOGUE READINGS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction- Chapter III: Welcome, tools for thinking, formal systems | pp. 82–102 | Three part invention; two-part invention; sonata for unaccompanied Achilles; contracrostipunctus | pp. 29–32, 43–5, 61–3, and 75–81 |
| 2 | Chapter IV: Consistency, Completeness, and Geometry | pp. 127–52 | Little harmonic Labyrinth | pp. 103–26 |
| 3 | Chapter V: Recursive Structures and Processes | pp. 158–76 | Canon by intervallic augmentation | pp. 153–7 |
| 4 | Chapter VI: The Location of Meaning | pp. 204–30 | Crab canon | pp. 199–203 |
| 5 | Chapter VIII: Typographical Number Theory | pp. 246–72 | A Mu offering | pp. 231–45 |
| 6 | Chapter IX: Mumon and Gödel | pp. 495–548 | Edifying thoughts of a tobacco smoker | pp. 480–94 |
| 7 | Chapter XVI: Self-Ref and self-Rep | pp. 337–65 | Prelude...; ...Ant Fugue | pp. 275–84, and 311–36 |
| 8 | Chapter XI: Brains and Thoughts | No assigned reading | None scheduled | No assigned reading |