Holes and Other Superficialities - by Roberto Casati & Achille C Varzi (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

This fascinating investigation on the borderlines of metaphysics, everyday geometry, and the theory of perception seeks to answer two basic questions: Do holes really exist? And if so, what are they? Holes are among entities that down-to-earth philosophers would like to expel from their ontological inventory. Casati and Varzi argue in favor of their existence and explore the consequences of this unorthodox approach--odd as these might appear. They examine the ontology of holes, their geometry, their part-whole relations, their identity, their causal role, and the ways we perceive them.

A Bradford Book

Review Quotes

"The idea of "Holes and Other Superficialities" is wonderfully counterintuitive: The authors want us to think of absences as full-fledged cognitive entities. The book describes a grand variety of holes--holes in doughnuts, tunnels through blocks, flowing gaps in regularly-spaced flowerbed, and hundreds more. There are an enormous number of beautifully-rendered illustrations of every imaginable (and often never-before-imagined) type of hole....The overlap with philosophical issues of every sort is marvelous, and the authors have a delightful sense of humor."--Douglas Hofstadter, author of "Gadel, Escher, Bach"

"This is an exciting epistemological experiment. It is wonderful to see how intelligent philosophers can take a modest concept, such as that of the hole, as a starting point for an immense and brilliant exercise.... The writing is delightful."--Valentino Braitenberg, Director, Max-Planck-Institut fa1/4r Biologische Kybernetick

"The idea of

" The idea of Holes and Other Superficialities is wonderfully counterintuitive: The authors want us to think of absences as full-fledged cognitive entities. The book describes a grand variety of holes -- holes in doughnuts, tunnels through blocks, flowing gaps in regularly-spaced flowerbed, and hundreds more. There are an enormous number of beautifully-rendered illustrations of every imaginable (and often never-before-imagined) type of hole....The overlap with philosophical issues of every sort is marvelous, and the authors have a delightful sense of humor." -- Douglas Hofstadter, author of G& Atilde; & para; del, Escher, Bach

" This is an exciting epistemological experiment. It is wonderful to see how intelligent philosophers can take a modest concept, such as that of the hole, as a starting point for an immense and brilliant exercise.... The writing is delightful." -- Valentino Braitenberg, Director, Max-Planck-Institut f& Atilde; & frac14; r Biologische Kybernetick

" The idea of "Holes and Other Superficialities" is wonderfully counterintuitive: The authors want us to think of absences as full-fledged cognitive entities. The book describes a grand variety of holes -- holes in doughnuts, tunnels through blocks, flowing gaps in regularly-spaced flowerbed, and hundreds more. There are an enormous number of beautifully-rendered illustrations of every imaginable (and often never-before-imagined) type of hole....The overlap with philosophical issues of every sort is marvelous, and the authors have a delightful sense of humor." -- Douglas Hofstadter, author of "GÃ ¶ del, Escher, Bach"

" This is an exciting epistemological experiment. It is wonderful to see how intelligent philosophers can take a modest concept, such as that of the hole, as a starting point for an immense and brilliant exercise.... The writing is delightful." -- Valentino Braitenberg, Director, Max-Planck-Institut fà ¼ r Biologische Kybernetick

-- Douglas Hofstadter, author of "G??del, Escher, Bach"

-- Valentino Braitenberg, Director, Max-Planck-Institut f??r Biologische Kybernetick

About the Author

Roberto Casati is the Director of the Jean Nicod Institute and Professor at EHESS in Paris. He is the coauthor of Holes and Other Superficialities and Parts and Places: The Structures of Spatial Representation, both published by the MIT Press.