Emmerson, Parker: Against Zero

This paper argues against the standard mathematical and linguistic treatment of zero, nullity, absence, empty collections, default falsity, and related symbolic devices. The critique is not merely that the glyph $\Zglyph$ is historically convenient, pedagogically overused, or technically dangerous in certain operations. The deeper criticism is that the entire zero-family performs a forbidden linguistic act: it converts non-presentation into a present sign, then grants that sign the operational s