Questions tagged [infinity]
Use for questions about the properties, nature, or definition of infinitude.
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Is infinite regress of causation possible? Is infinite regress of causation necessary?
For a number of reasons — including perhaps a desire to feel that we have a complete understanding of where we came from, or at least an understanding which is completely sufficient for all of ...
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Is infinity a number?
So I've been on a number of math fora, part of learning some calculus (not much of set theory, no). To my surprise I found what I would describe as strong resistance from some folks against (using) ...
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What was Cantor's philosophical reason for accepting the infinite but rejecting the infinitesimal?
I have begun inquiring recently into mathematical aspects of Georg Cantor's theory of transfinite numbers and sets, which he developed between the years of 1874 and 1897. Throughout his theory, Cantor ...
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Why would infinite monkeys not produce the works of Shakespeare?
Apologies if this is a very basic/obvious question. I have no training in philosophy, but have been making my way through Peter Adamson's History of Philosophy podcast.
Recently I listened to his ...
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Does the impossibility of an infinite regress prove God exists?
I'm strictly discussing one aspect of God: God as the First Cause. I am excluding all other qualities of God defined by any religion or belief system -- including the notion of God as a sentient being....
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If we live in a simulated world, doesn't there have to be a first world that's real?
There are people who believe we live in a world, simulated on a computer. That computer must have been built in either another computer-generated world or a real world (by which I mean a non-simulated ...
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What is the difference between an Ordinal number and a Cardinal number?
I'm trying to understand the real difference between an Ordinal and a Cardinal, especially in relation with transfinite cardinals. The stuff on Wiki is a bit too complicated. Can anyone make it simple ...
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Are infinities in physics (or in any other materalist philosophy) actually possible?
Aristotle made a distinction between infinities that were in potential (dunamis) and in actuality (energia); and stated that actual infinities did not obtain in the physical world. This is the basis ...
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Do all epistemologies suffer from the "regress of justifications" problem?
Aristotle describes the regress problem in his logical work Posterior Analytics I.2:
b5. Some hold that, owing to the necessity of knowing the primary premisses, there is no scientific knowledge. ...
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If the universe is finite does that nullify Godel's incompleteness, halting problem, and Church-Turing thesis?
I'm not well versed on these topics but they all seem to rely on infinity, mainly infinite recursion or infinite space of mathematics.
If there is no always "next" algorithm, the halting ...
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Is the axiom of infinity truly an axiom?
I hope I can communicate my concerns effectively, so I can reach an understanding about a topic that I've been reflecting and researching intensely on for a few days. I am thinking about actually ...
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Limitless Space
I know many talked about this, however I am not a professional philosopher, rather a mathematician.
In mathematics we have the concept of infinity, so we speak about infinitely big things, we compare ...
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Is infinity a concept or a word empty of meaning?
I'm wondering if infinity is a concept.
We know from experience that there are things for which one cannot reach the end. A long way through the space is an example. One cannot reach the end of the ...
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Is there an alternative to Cantor's cardinalities that makes proper subsets smaller than their sets?
Cantor defined an infinite set as a set whose subset can be placed in a one-to-one correspondence with its subset. That is, take the set of all natural numbers: {0, 1, 2, 3, 4,...}. From that set, you ...
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Are infinitesimals in the Newton and Leibniz calculus potential or actual?
Was reading a bit about history of calculus and its philosophy and stumbled into source of confusion: were infinitesimals in seventeenth century calculus assumed to be actual or potential? Was there ...
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