Talking about Nothing: Numbers, Hallucinations and Fictions

by Jody Azzouni

Book Overview

Ordinary language and scientific language enable us to speak about, in a singular way (using demonstratives and names), what we recognize not to exist: fictions, the contents of our hallucinations, abstract objects, and various idealized but nonexistent objects that our scientific theories are often couched in terms of. Indeed, references to such nonexistent items-especially in the case of the application of mathematics to the sciences-are indispensable...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0199937680
• ISBN13: 9780199937684
• Release Date: October 2012
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 282 Pages
• Weight: 0.92 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.1" x 9.1"