Holes and Other Superficialities

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 & quot; 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.& quot; -- Douglas Hofstadter, author of G& Atilde; & para; del, Escher, Bach & quot; 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.& quot; -- 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 GA 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 fA 1/4 r Biologische Kybernetick -- Douglas Hofstadter, author of G??del, Escher, Bach -- Valentino Braitenberg, Director, Max-Planck-Institut f??r Biologische Kybernetick