The character and origin of the manuscripts in the present edition

Abstract

In the following I try to provide the reader with all the details needed to insert the Gödel essays appearing here in the broader context of the rest of his unpublished work, as well as everything about my personal work on them. I start with a short description of what can be found in the Gödel Nachlass in Princeton, USA, by referring to the catalogue prepared by John Dawson. Then I attempt to justify the particular selection I made of the manuscripts which I finally decided to study, reconstruct and publish. Such an explanation seems to be advisable given the great amount of Gödel’s material unpublished but still extant. Also, I describe some of the historical details relevant to understanding Gödel’s reason for writing the manuscripts, and also for withholding them from publication. The rest of the chapter concerns my own work related to these essays. I begin by explaining the state in which I found the original manuscripts; then I give the criteria which I have applied to their reconstruction and editing.