more from Willard Quine

Single Idea 18970

[catalogued under 27. Natural Reality / C. Space / 3. Points in Space]

Full Idea

Unless we are prepared to believe that absolute position makes sense, the very idea of a point as an entity in its own right must be rejected as not merely mysterious but absurd.

Gist of Idea

The concept of a 'point' makes no sense without the idea of absolute position

Source

Willard Quine (Propositional Objects [1965], p.149)

Book Reference

Quine,Willard: 'Ontological Relativity and Other Essays' [Columbia 1969], p.149


A Reaction

The fact that without absolute position we can only think of 'points' as relative to a conceptual grid doesn't stop the grid from picking out actual locations in space, as shown by latitude and longitude.