Nothing: A Philosophical History

ISBN-13: 9780199742837 / Angielski / Twarda / 2022 / 368 str.

Roy Sorensen

Opis

How can nothing cause something? The absence of something might seem to indicate a null or a void, an emptiness as ineffectual as a shadow. In fact, 'nothing' is one of the most powerful and effective ideas the human mind has ever conceived. This short and entertaining book is a lively tour of the history and philosophy of nothing, explaining how various thinkers throughout history have conceived and grappled with the mysterious power of absence - and how theseideas about shadows, gaps, and holes have in turned played a positive role in the development of some of humankind's most important ideas. Filled with anecdotes, puzzles, curiosities, and philosophical speculation, the book is ordered chronologically, starting with the ancients and moving forward to themiddle ages and the early modern period, then up to the existentialists and present day philosophy. The result is a diverting tour through the history of human thought, seen from a novel and unusual perspective.

Recenzje

Sorensen (Univ. of Texas at Austin; frequent visiting professor, St. Andrew's Univ., Scotland) has written a book that seeks above all to be comprehensive both geographically and chronologically. Spanning the ancient Greeks to today and traversing multiple cultures and thus multiple faith traditions, Nothing leaves no stone unturned in this survey of nonbeing. The text is not only informative but also entertaining; Sorensen's analysis is quite quippy at times...this book will provide a broad understanding of the meaning of absence. Choice

O autorze

Roy Sorensen is the author of eight books: Blindspots, Thought Experiments, Pseudo-Problems, A Brief History of the Paradox, Vagueness and Contradiction, Seeing Dark Things, and A Cabinet of Philosophical Curiosities. Prior to joining the UT Austin faculty in 2019, he taught at University of Delaware, New York University, Dartmouth College, and Washington University in St. Louis. Starting in 2020, he will be a Professorial Fellow at St. Andrews University in Scotland.