• Banno
    25.1k
    To me, Infinity and Existence denote the same.Philosopher19

    :roll:
  • sime
    1.1k


    According to the philosophy of intuitionism, a sequence that is said to be "without an end", is only taken to mean a sequence that is without a defined end. This is similar to computer programming, where an infinite loop that is declared in a computer program is only interpreted to imply that the program is to be stopped by the external user rather than internally by the program logic.

    So in intuitionism (and computer programming), the difference between a finite sequence and an infinite sequence is taken to be epistemic rather than ontological. From the point of view of the producer of the sequence who gets to control it's eventual termination, the sequence could be said to be "finite", whereas from the consumer's point of view who has no knowledge and control of the sequence's termination, the same sequence could be said to be "infinite", or better, "potentially infinite". Or even better, the word "infinity" can be deprecated and replaced by finer-grained terminology that precisely conveys the information that one has at one's disposal in a given situation, without committing to the idea that the information one has is complete.

    Amateur (and even some professional) philosophers demonstrate a profound gullibility, in their face-value interpretation of mathematical symbolism. To believe that infinity means "never ending" in an absolute sense just because an upper bound is omitted from a definition, is like believing that a blank cheque cannot bounce.
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