I have corrected the text to change *one* to *number*.
I was fortunate enough to be invited to dinner in Santa Fe--my college,
St. John's has a sister campus in Santa Fe--at which Gian-Carlo Rota was
the guest of honor. That was long ago, but I remember that he Husserl was
mentioned, and Gian-Carlo Rota said that he admired Husserl but remarked
that Husserl had the crazy notion that one is not a number.
Of course there is nothing crazy about the thought that one is not a
number. If one follows the definition of number that calls number a
multitude, then one is at the opposite pole from a number, since the polar
distinction is unity-multiplicity. Nevertheless, even in that
interpretation, one is at the beginning of number. The analogy: point is
to line as one is to number.
Gian-Carlo Rota will be missed. At what age has he died?
Best wishes,
Sam Kutler
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