Questions tagged [infinite]
The infinite tag has no usage guidance.
39
questions
1
vote
0
answers
31
views
Spinoza's Ethics. He didn't explain why substance has infinite attributes
My point of reference is up to Proposition 11:
God is defined as a substance of infinite attributes, yet in Ethics, Spinoza didn't prove that substance necessarily has infinite substances. He proved ...
- 11
1
vote
2
answers
42
views
numerable diagonalization [closed]
If I understand Cantor demonstrated by using a strategy using the diagonal of a matrix, that there are decimal numbers which cannot be a part of an enumeration.
We can build a Table, the rows ...
- 343
4
votes
4
answers
757
views
Can the PSR be true for everything except the universe?
There is something called the principle of sufficient reason: everything happens for a reason. I believe that everything happens for a reason because inductively, that has been the case every time. It ...
1
vote
1
answer
65
views
Is having infinite amount of a quantity same as having none of it? [closed]
Ithink that if you have an infinite amount of material, you actually have none of it. I interpret this as you having imaginary material.
Am I correct in making this assessment?
- 101
6
votes
4
answers
235
views
What does it mean for something to “break” infinite regress?
When it comes to the cosmological argument, proponents point out that a first cause is needed to stop an infinite regress of causes.
In epistemology, foundationalism is used to break the infinite ...
user62907
5
votes
2
answers
235
views
Does Descartes conclude that imperfection implies perfection?
In the third meditation, does Descartes' knowledge of his limitations, or his imperfections, lead to his conclusion that there must be something limitless, something perfect?
In his third meditation, ...
4
votes
4
answers
367
views
Why is infinite regress commonly discussed in the context of theology or metaphysics, when it implies a rather peculiar model of the universe?
I have witnessed infinite regress being used to "prove God as impossible" with the following objections:
If god is the creator, who created god?
If the universe needs to be intelligently ...
- 41
16
votes
7
answers
4k
views
Does Intelligent Design (ID) entail an infinite regress of designers, and if so, is that problematic?
We can arrive at an infinite regress of designers as follows:
Suppose that X is so complex that it's considered to show evidence of design. Accordingly, we infer that an intelligent designer must be ...
user66156
-3
votes
1
answer
147
views
Is universe INFINITE? [closed]
(My question might be asked a lot on this stack and I thank you if you mind mentioning it.)
So we know that bigbang wasn't a firecracker explosion but it was the expansion or more precise, inflation ...
- 1
2
votes
1
answer
205
views
Was Wittgenstein a mathematical finitist?
Wittgenstein was a notorious critic of set theory, calling it "laughable nonsense". However, he also wholeheartedly rejected intuitionist logic of Brouwer and Weyl, saying "it is ...
- 1,526
6
votes
6
answers
629
views
Finite and infinite temporal duration
I am trying to wrap my head around different philosophical concepts of 'forever'. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe there to be three versions of 'forever' in terms of temporal duration:
...
2
votes
7
answers
384
views
Applying logic to the question of whether all of existence is infinite or not
Here, I use to exist as generally as possible; if it is an object, it exists; if it is conceivable, it exists; if it is anything, it exists; even the properties and relations themselves exist. ...
- 148
2
votes
0
answers
155
views
Who came up with the traversing an infinity model of a guy eternally walking on tiles that appear and vanish behind him
I had a debate last year where I got my idea from a scholarly source that I didn't cite at the time. I'm looking to find it again.
As a rebuttal to the idea that an infinity cannot be traversed, this ...
- 21
0
votes
0
answers
28
views
When can we arrive at a border but not cross it?
Does that mathematisation of consciousness allow us to think of arriving at a limit but not crossing (some things seem to suggest we do not cross borders we do get to)? Is that the case only for some ...
user62233
1
vote
2
answers
111
views
Is this why infinite different worlds cannot exist?
I think that there can never be infinite different worlds because they would blow each other up. The logic chain goes something like this:
There are infinite different worlds
Each world is different
...
2
votes
4
answers
531
views
Doesn't infinite regress go backward forever? Is SEP wrong?
I have always understood infinite regress to mean going backwards forever. (Forever as in endlessly, not necessarily temporally). A model would be the negative integers, if we viewed them as a model ...
- 3,005
1
vote
0
answers
48
views
How would infinitism intersect ethical beliefs?
Assuming that some moral knowledge is to be action-guiding, how could one appeal to an infinite chain of reasons to justify moral beliefs? (This is at least another "proof-of-concept" issue ...
- 18.7k
0
votes
0
answers
100
views
Is an infinite regress logically possible?
I always see in a lot of texts that use the idea that infinite regresses are impossible to justify their arguments. But I haven't seen any texts that address infinite regresses themselves. Are ...
- 51
0
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Infinite Sleep vs Death
I know a similar question has been adressed before but I feel it did not address my question.
When we sleep all our pain/ache on our body vanishes for some time span, you do not know what happened ...
user47927
2
votes
2
answers
358
views
Does human conciousness "prove" that God exists?
I'm aware this question assumes our universe isn't an infinite regression.
The logic is as follows:
A is the source of everything. B exists. B came from A. Therefore B is an attribute of A.
A being ...
- 31
1
vote
4
answers
1k
views
Would it be logically possible that the Universe has a beginning in time but an infinite amount of time has elapsed since this beginning?
Imagine that the Universe had a temporal beginning but no temporal end. At the beginning the Universe has a finite size, and as time passes its size increases exponentially. And the number of ...
- 111
6
votes
8
answers
3k
views
Infinite past with a beginning?
I can conceive of an infinite past with a beginning. I can in fact represent this idea by a simple diagram, part analogical, part symbolic. So, to me, this idea is a logical possibility.
I initially ...
- 9,012
1
vote
2
answers
148
views
With infinite language would the meaning of words collapse?
If our language was infinite to describe an infinite amount of objects, would it even be possible for any of those concepts to mean anything? My intuition is that the meaning of a word is given to it ...
- 113
5
votes
9
answers
1k
views
How can God be temporal if he never began?
I was reading through this article and it says:
What may be the dominant view of philosophers today is that he is temporal but everlasting; that is, God never began to exist and he never will go ...
- 766
1
vote
0
answers
71
views
Are there any arguments for why something past-eternal must necessarily be future-eternal as well?
If we assume that something has always existed in the past, what reason is there to assume that it won't perish in the future?
I pondered on it and I wondered whether the following argument works: ...
- 408
0
votes
2
answers
76
views
Infinite realities: Theoretically if the sun burned out or if all resources were used up, in another universe could it have not happened at all?
This is assuming that infinite realities exist. I have no physics or philosophy background, I am writing a science fiction novel. That being said, please dumb down your answers for me.
- 1
1
vote
3
answers
648
views
Infinite v finite domains
The question is the following:
(a) Specify a sentence in which the following are all true:
∀x¬Rxx, ∀x∃yRxy, ∀x∀y∀z((Rxy ∧ Ryz) → Rxz).
====
For (a), I believe this structure requires an ...
- 97
1
vote
1
answer
771
views
How can the finite contain the infinite?
This article claims that all finite things are actually infinite, however it doesn't explain how this can possibly work only that it is the way the world really works. Numbers and lines are finite, ...
- 219
3
votes
1
answer
194
views
What importance, if any, do infinitesimals still have for philosophers?
What importance, if any, do infinitesimals still have to philosophers? It seems like many people are baffled by them. E.g., there's a slew of questions relating to Zeno on this site (not least by ...
user28474
1
vote
2
answers
2k
views
Are there an infinite number of possibilities? [closed]
Let's say there's a plate on the table in the kitchen and you walk in to see its broken on the floor. You weren't there to witness it.
Now let's say you have a cat, the washing machine was on and ...
user26403
13
votes
5
answers
838
views
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. ...
- 8,475
0
votes
4
answers
327
views
Are there more numbers than numerals?
If the universe is finite and numbers are infinite, would that mean that there are more numbers than numerals to name them?
- 11
8
votes
8
answers
5k
views
Arguments against eternal return
I have encountered the concept of eternal return e.g. in reading about Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 – 1900) and Pythagoras (c. 570 – c. 495 BC). This is one formulation from Nietzsche's The Will To Power:...
- 1,674
-3
votes
2
answers
160
views
Is an infinity of possibilities is not possible when God is involved?
Within an infinity of possibilities there is a possibility that God exists in all possibilities just as much as there is a possibility that God exists in none of them. This leads to a contradiction. ...
3
votes
7
answers
2k
views
How can one determine, and justify, that something is infinite?
Can infinite things be measured and known?
Imagine you stood on a long rope, and in the distance, you see that the rope continues past your vision. The further you walk on it, the more rope seems to ...
1
vote
3
answers
242
views
Mildly interesting: is the number of objects in the universe at any given time finite? [closed]
My guess is yes. Here's my reasoning.
There are a finite number of atoms in the universe (the current estimate is about 10^80). In other words, the set of all atoms in the (observable) universe is a ...
- 217
9
votes
7
answers
3k
views
Could there ever be evidence for an infinite being?
The God of Anselm is understood as "that than which nothing greater can be conceived." From this definition, God can be presumed to be omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, perfectly free, uncaused, ...
- 201
3
votes
1
answer
350
views
Actual infinite vs. Potential infinite [closed]
I'm looking for bibliography about the problem of Actual infinite vs. Potential infinite. I would appreciate information about papers or books treating this problem deeply, philosophical and ...
1
vote
2
answers
801
views
Is an infinite regress good logic?
I have come across claims that first causes are not needed we can always have an infinite regress. Is this good logic is what I'm wondering. If the universe has an beginning should we believe that ...
- 2,355