Quick Facts
Biography
Jody Azzouni (born Jawad Azzouni; born 1954) is an American philosopher, short fiction writer, and poet. He currently is Professor of Philosophy at Tufts University.
Education
He received his bachelor's degree and master's degree from New York University and his PhD from the City University of New York.
Career and philosophical positions
Azzouni is currently working on the philosophy of mathematics (he holds a degree in mathematics), science, logic, language and in areas of metaphysics, epistemology, and aesthetics. He acknowledges, as do many of his peers, a debt to the renowned philosopher, Willard Van Orman Quine. Azzouni is of the nominalist bent and has centered much of his philosophical efforts around defending nominalism.
One of his most distinctive positions is the as yet controversial claim that mathematical objects don't exist.
Other work
In addition to his philosophical endeavors, Azzouni has published numerous short stories. He has written a book of poetry entitled The Lust For Blueprints.
Books
Philosophy
- Metaphysical Myths, Mathematical Practice: The Ontology and Epistemology of the Exact Sciences (1994)
- Knowledge and Reference in Empirical Science (2000)
- Deflating Existential Consequence: A Case for Nominalism (2004)
- Tracking Reason: Proof, Consequence and Truth (2006)
- Talking About Nothing: Numbers, Hallucinations and Fictions (2010)
- Semantic perception : how the illusion of a common language arises and persists (2013)
Poetry
- The Lust for Blueprints The Poet's Press (1999) ISBN 0-922558-07-8 ISBN 978-0922558070
- Hereafter Landscapes The Poet's Press (2010) ISBN 0-922558-42-6