Nachtomya, Ohad (Author)
The article presents Leibniz's preoccupation (in 1675--6) with the difference between the notion of infinite number, which he regards as impossible, and that of the infinite being, which he regards as possible. I call this issue `Leibniz's Problem' and examine Spinoza's solution to a similar problem that arises in the context of his philosophy. `Spinoza's solution' is expounded in his letter on the infinite (Ep.12), which Leibniz read and annotated in April 1676. The gist of Spinoza's solution is to distinguish between three kinds of infinity and, in particular, between one that applies to substance, and one that applies to numbers, seen as auxiliaries of the imagination. The rest of the paper examines the extent to which Spinoza's solution solves Leibniz's problem. The main thesis I advance is that, when Spinoza and Leibniz say that the divine substance is infinite, in most contexts it is to be understood in non-numerical and non-quantitative terms. Instead, for Spinoza and Leibniz, a substance is said to be infinite in a qualitative sense stressing that it is complete, perfect and indivisible. I argue that this approach solves one strand of Leibniz's problem and leaves another unsolved.
...More
Article
Bussotti, Paolo;
Tapp, Christian;
(2009)
The Influence of Spinoza's Concept of Infinity on Cantor's Set Theory
(/isis/citation/CBB000931166/)
Article
Brown, Gregory;
(2005)
Leibniz's Mathematical Argument against a Soul of the World
(/isis/citation/CBB000640354/)
Thesis
Christopher P. Noble;
(2016)
The Soul as Spiritual Automaton in Leibniz's Synthetic Natural Philosophy
(/isis/citation/CBB700001563/)
Book
Huenemann, Charlie;
(2008)
Understanding Rationalism
(/isis/citation/CBB000950265/)
Article
Federico Boccaccini;
Anna Marmodoro;
(2017)
Powers, Abilities and Skills in Early Modern Philosophy
(/isis/citation/CBB647362818/)
Article
Margherita Palumbo;
(2006)
Il 'lodevole artificio'. Trattati mnemotecnici nella biblioteca privata leibniziana
(/isis/citation/CBB403601884/)
Article
Paolo Rossini;
(2020)
Changing conceptions of mathematics and infinity in Giordano Bruno’s vernacular and Latin works
(/isis/citation/CBB044626758/)
Chapter
Steven Nadler;
(2010)
Spinoza, Leibniz, and the Gods of Philosophy
(/isis/citation/CBB268831830/)
Article
Alexandre Leone;
(2020)
Actual Infinity in Or Hashem by Hasdai Crescas (1340-1411)
(/isis/citation/CBB215047151/)
Book
Kaplan, Robert;
Kaplan, Ellen;
(2003)
The Art of the Infinite: The Pleasures of Mathematics
(/isis/citation/CBB000302161/)
Chapter
Védrine, Hélène;
(1980)
Quelques remarques sur l'infini chez Bruno et Spinoza
(/isis/citation/CBB000009929/)
Book
Deregibus, Arturo;
(1981)
Bruno e Spinoza: La realtà dell'infinito e il problema della sua unità. 1: Il concetto dell'infinito nel pensiero filosofico di Bruno. 2: La dottrina di Spinoza sull'infinito
(/isis/citation/CBB000020179/)
Chapter
Paolo Zellini;
(2018)
La crescita dei numeri nel pensiero antico e moderno
(/isis/citation/CBB053441886/)
Chapter
Paolo Zellini;
(2019)
Continuo, discontinuo e infinito nel pensiero di Pavel Florenskij
(/isis/citation/CBB672175919/)
Book
Emanuele Gambetta;
(2020)
Philosophy of the Infinite
(/isis/citation/CBB368392118/)
Article
Emily Katz;
(2021)
What Numbers Could Not Be (for Aristotle)
(/isis/citation/CBB693325107/)
Article
Hana, Daesuk;
(2010)
Wittgenstein and the Real Numbers
(/isis/citation/CBB001210976/)
Article
Pareti, Germana;
(2018)
L’impegnativa eredità della metafisica del calcolo infinitesimale
(/isis/citation/CBB341367277/)
Book
Miklós Vassányi;
(2010)
Anima Mundi: The Rise of the World Soul Theory in Modern German Philosophy
(/isis/citation/CBB252978931/)
Article
Bassler, O. Bradley;
(1998)
Leibniz on the indefinite as infinite
(/isis/citation/CBB000078998/)
Be the first to comment!