The Outer Limits of Reason: What Science, Mathematics, and Logic Cannot Tell Us

Title Page, Copyright, Dedication

The Outer Limits of Reason The Outer Limits of Reason What Science, Mathematics, and Logic Cannot Tell Us Noson S. Yanofsky The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England © 2013 Massachusetts Institute of Technology All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher. MIT Press books may be purchased at special quantity discounts for business or sales promotional use. For information, please email special_sales@mitpress.mit.edu or write to Special Sales Department, The MIT Press, 55 Hayward Street, Cambridge, MA 02142. This book was set in Stone Sans and Stone Serif by Toppan Best-set Premedia Limited, Hong Kong. Printed and bound in the United States of America. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Yanofsky, Noson S., 1967– The outer limits of reason : what science, mathematics, and logic cannot tell us / Noson S. Yanofsky. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-262-01935-4 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Knowledge, Theory of. 2. Science—Philosophy. 3. Mathematics—Philosophy. I. Title. Q175.32.K45Y36 2013 001.01—dc23 2012050531 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Please email all comments and criticisms to noson@sci.brooklyn.cuny.edu. For Shayna Leah, Hadassah, and Rivka ...