Ad Infinitum... The Ghost in Turing's Machine: Taking God Out of Mathematics and Putting the Body Back In. An Essay in Corporeal Semiotics [Paperback]

Brian Rotman (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Rotman uses semiotics to focus on the infinite and the meaning of the mathematician’s ellipsis. . . . He argues persuasively that a constructive model of the infinite is inherent in the literary acts of mathematicians.”—Choice

From the Back Cover

“Rotman uses semiotics to focus on the infinite and the meaning of the mathematician’s ellipsis. . . . He argues persuasively that a constructive model of the infinite is inherent in the literary acts of mathematicians.”—Choice

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Stanford University Press; 1 edition (September 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804721289
• ISBN-13: 978-0804721288
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,332,993 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely brilliant alternative to Platonism, September 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Ad Infinitum... The Ghost in Turing's Machine: Taking God Out of Mathematics and Putting the Body Back In. An Essay in Corporeal Semiotics (Paperback)

Ever since the first explosion of mathematics in the West, some 2500 years ago, philosophers have wondered from whence does mathematics arise? For most of this time, and for most of these questioners, the answer has been some form of "platonism" - some variation on the view that numbers and other mathematical "objects" exist in a transcendent realm, a priori to, and independent from the material world. Throughout history, several attempts have been made to articulate a coherent alternative to this essentially religious view. At last Brian Rotman has succeeded in this task - and the view he offers is astonishing in its elegance and satisfaction. A truly brilliant and deeply important work, Ad Infinitum should be required reading for all those interested in the philosophy of mathematics.

4.0 out of 5 stars Mammalian Mathematics, July 5, 2010

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Clark Bailey - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ad Infinitum... The Ghost in Turing's Machine: Taking God Out of Mathematics and Putting the Body Back In. An Essay in Corporeal Semiotics (Paperback)

Terrific little book with a strange new vision of what counting is. Rotman not only lays out an alternative theoretical account of what it means to do mathematics, but, by sketching out a type of non-Euclidean arithmetic, goes ahead and does a little bit on the sly. In the end, this is very lucid, accessible, and thought provoking way to stop simply taking infinity for granted.