On Infinite Number and Distance

Constructivist Foundations 7 (2):126-130 (2012)
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Abstract

Context: The infinite has long been an area of philosophical and mathematical investigation. There are many puzzles and paradoxes that involve the infinite. Problem: The goal of this paper is to answer the question: Which objects are the infinite numbers (when order is taken into account)? Though not currently considered a problem, I believe that it is of primary importance to identify properly the infinite numbers. Method: The main method that I employ is conceptual analysis. In particular, I argue that the infinite numbers should be as much like the finite numbers as possible. Results: Using finite numbers as our guide to the infinite numbers, it follows that infinite numbers are of the structure w + (w* + w) a + w*. This same structure also arises when a large finite number is under investigation. Implications: A first implication of the paper is that infinite numbers may be large finite numbers that have not been investigated fully. A second implication is that there is no number of finite numbers. Third, a number of paradoxes of the infinite are resolved. One change that should occur as a result of these findings is that “infinitely many” should refer to structures of the form w + (w* + w) a + w*; in contrast, there are “indefinitely many” natural numbers. Constructivist content: The constructivist perspective of the paper is a form of strict finitism

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Citations of this work

Throwing Darts, Time, and the Infinite.Jeremy Gwiazda - 2013 - Erkenntnis 78 (5):971-975.
On Multiverses and Infinite Numbers.Jeremy Gwiazda - 2014 - In Klaas Kraay (ed.), God and the Multiverse. Routledge. pp. 162-173.

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References found in this work

Non-standard Analysis.Gert Heinz Müller - 2016 - Princeton University Press.
Existence and feasibility in arithmetic.Rohit Parikh - 1971 - Journal of Symbolic Logic 36 (3):494-508.
The collected papers of Bertrand Russell.Bertrand Russell - 1983 - Boston: G. Allen & Unwin. Edited by Kenneth Blackwell.
Predicative arithmetic.Edward Nelson - 1986 - Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.

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