Full Idea
Everything we know about the empty set is relational; we know that nothing is the membership relation to it. But what do we know about its 'intrinsic properties'?
Gist of Idea
We only know relational facts about the empty set, but nothing intrinsic
Source
Charles Chihara (A Structural Account of Mathematics [2004], 01.5)
Book Reference
Chihara,Charles: 'A Structural Account of Mathematics' [OUP 2004], p.24
A Reaction
Set theory seems to depend on the concept of the empty set. Modern theorists seem over-influenced by the Quine-Putnam view, that if science needs it, we must commit ourselves to its existence.