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What is the Infinite?
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The Infinite
In this course Adrian Moore (University of Oxford) explores the infinite in metaphysics and theology, through a historical approach. In the first module we think about what we mean by the infinite. After that, we explore the Ancient Greeks and their hostility towards the infinite. In the third module we look at medieval thinkers and a positive change in metaphysical and theological conceptions of the infinite, before moving onto a module on early modern thinkers and the question of what grasp we have on the infinite. In the fifth module, we delve more deeply into the question: what should we make of the infinite? Finally, in the sixth module, we turn our attention to the finite, and the variation in attitudes towards finitude.
What is the Infinite?
In this module, we think about what we mean when we talk about the infinite, focusing in particular on (i) the two different kinds of infinity – the mathematical or scientific conception, and the metaphysical one; (ii) the relation between these two conceptions of the infinite; and (iii) the concepts of the infinite that are not included in this course.
My name is Adrienne Moore,
00:00:06and I am professor of philosophy at the University of Oxford.
00:00:08And in this course of lectures, we're going to be considering the infinite
00:00:13as it appears in metaphysics and theology.
00:00:19And we're going to be looking at it
00:00:22in a historical way, looking at how this
00:00:24topic has been understood over the
00:00:27ages.
00:00:30And I want to begin in this very
00:00:32first mini lecture by broaching the fundamental question.
00:00:34What is the infinite? What is it that we're talking about?
00:00:39And if you ask most people to tell you what they understand by the infinite,
00:00:44you're liable to get two quite different answers.
00:00:49One thing that's very likely to happen is that people will
00:00:54appeal to concepts like endless nous
00:00:58or boundless nous or limitless nous.
00:01:02And they'll say that what they understand by
00:01:06the infinite is what has those qualities.
00:01:08But another quite different reaction that you might get is that people might
00:01:13start talking about concepts like the absolute or perfection or self sufficiency.
00:01:17And there are these two clusters of concepts that are associated with the infinite,
00:01:28and they're rather they're rather different clusters of concepts.
00:01:33The first cluster endless nous boundless nous concepts of that kind.
00:01:38Those are the sorts of concepts that people are likely
00:01:43to appeal to if what they have in mind is
00:01:46a mathematical understanding of the infinite or
00:01:50a scientific understanding of the infinite.
00:01:53So mathematicians are interested in the infinite, for example,
00:01:57because they believe that there are infinitely many numbers.
00:02:00The series of numbers 1234, et cetera, goes on without end without limit.
00:02:04Scientists may be interested in the infinite because they may be
00:02:12interested in the question whether space or time are infinite.
00:02:16And again, what they have in mind is
00:02:21the question whether space and time
00:02:24are without limit or without any bounds.
00:02:27The other cluster of concepts that I mentioned at the outset
00:02:32is the cluster of concepts that you're more likely to hear mentioned by
00:02:37theologians or perhaps philosophers,
00:02:42and then the cluster of concepts that are most likely
00:02:47to be associated with the infinite in connection with God.
00:02:50What do we understand when we talk about God as an infinite being?
00:02:55And what people have in mind is that God is in some way perfect,
00:03:00absolute, completely self sufficient.
00:03:05Now there are some fascinating questions about how
00:03:11these concepts are related to each other and
00:03:14why the infinite does subdivide in this way
00:03:16why we have these two clusters of concepts,
00:03:20fascinating questions, which, although they're fascinating,
00:03:25I won't be pursuing during this course of lectures.
00:03:28What I'm doing at this early stage
00:03:33is flagging that my main concern during these lectures
00:03:36will be with the second cluster of concepts.
00:03:41It won't be exclusively with the second cluster of concepts.
00:03:45We'll be talking a little bit about the mathematical conception as well.
00:03:50But primarily I'm interested in what I'm
00:03:54calling here, the metaphysical conception of the infinite,
00:03:57the conception of the infinite that you are more likely to
00:04:02find when people are talking about God and about the divine.
00:04:04And I want to look at the various things that people
00:04:10have had to say about that idea of the infinite,
00:04:13going right back to early Greek thought five centuries before the birth of Christ.
00:04:17One caveat. One important caveat.
00:04:25One thing that I should emphasis is that I shall be exclusively
00:04:29concerned with thinkers in the Western tradition,
00:04:35so I'll be beginning
00:04:39in the next lecture by looking at what early Greek thinkers have said about this,
00:04:42and then later we'll be looking at
00:04:46what mediaeval thinkers have said about this topic
00:04:48and later still more recent thinkers,
00:04:51but always thinkers within
00:04:55the Western tradition.
00:04:57
Cite this Lecture
APA style
Moore, A. (2022, February 07). The Infinite - What is the Infinite? [Video]. MASSOLIT. https://massolit.io/courses/the-infinite
MLA style
Moore, A. "The Infinite – What is the Infinite?." MASSOLIT, uploaded by MASSOLIT, 07 Feb 2022, https://massolit.io/courses/the-infinite