2018/07/07 by Anat Schechtman · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Historical Philosophy and Science #Classical Philosophy and Thought #Historical and Literary Studies
paper · doi:10.1093/mind/fzy034
openalex publication_date 2018/07/07 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
Abstract Many historical and philosophical studies treat infinity as an exclusively quantitative notion, whose proper domain of application is mathematics and physics. The main aim of this paper is to disentangle, by critically examining, three notions of infinity in the early modern period, and to argue that one—but only one—of them is quantitative. One of these non-quantitative notions concerns being or reality, while the other concerns a particular iterative property of an aggregate. These three notions will emerge through examination of three central figures in the period: Locke (for quantitative infinity), Descartes (ontic infinity), and Leibniz (iterative infinity).