In recent decades we have been given one of the most interesting concepts in Islamic intellectual history, `the scientific miracle of Qur’ān whereby the proponents have almost established the scientific theories in the Qur’ān. However, such ardent claims must not come to be without any inspiration and methodology. This article, firstly, tries to trace the inspiration of such concept and then describe the methodology. However, as exciting as this concept seems, the methodology brings forth a very negative approach to prove (...) the miracle of the Qur’ān, which is value free. That negative value free mentality which is related to the status of prophet of Islam will be exposed and it will detail how the status of prophet of Islam was abated so badly to prove the science from the Qur’ān. To counter this negative narrative and to reveal the true status of prophet of Islam, arguments will be presented from the Qur’ān and Ḥadīth which are incontrovertible. Let it be known than, this analysis is not general but particular. However, it will be a novel critique to re-visit this concept. (shrink)

Monetary intelligence theory asserts that individuals apply their money attitude to frame critical concerns in the context and strategically select certain options to achieve financial goals and ultimate happiness. This study explores the dark side of monetary Intelligence and behavioral economics—dishonesty. Dishonesty, a risky prospect, involves cost–benefit analysis of self-interest. We frame good or bad barrels in the environmental context as a proxy of high or low probability of getting caught for dishonesty, respectively. We theorize: The magnitude and intensity of (...) the relationship between love of money and dishonest prospect may reveal how individuals frame dishonesty in the context of two levels of subjective norm—perceived corporate ethical values at the micro-level and Corruption Perceptions Index at the macro-level, collected from multiple sources. Based on 6382 managers in 31 geopolitical entities across six continents, our cross-level three-way interaction effect illustrates: As expected, managers in good barrels, mixed barrels, and bad barrels display low, medium, and high magnitude of dishonesty, respectively. With high CEV, the intensity is the same across cultures. With low CEV, the intensity of dishonesty is the highest in high CPI entities —the Enron Effect, but the lowest in low CPI entities. CPI has a strong impact on the magnitude of dishonesty, whereas CEV has a strong impact on the intensity of dishonesty. We demonstrate dishonesty in light of monetary values and two frames of social norm, revealing critical implications to the field of behavioral economics and business ethics. (shrink)

Corruption involves greed, money, and risky decision-making. We explore the love of money, pay satisfaction, probability of risk, and dishonesty across cultures. Avaricious monetary aspiration breeds unethicality. Prospect theory frames decisions in the gains-losses domain and high-low probability. Pay dissatisfaction (in the losses domain) incites dishonesty in the name of justice at the individual level. The Corruption Perceptions Index, CPI, signals a high-low probability of getting caught for dishonesty at the country level. We theorize that decision-makers adopt avaricious love-of-money aspiration (...) as a lens and frame dishonesty in the gains-losses domain (pay satisfaction-dissatisfaction, Level 1) and high-low probability (CPI, Level 2) to maximize expected utility and ultimate serenity. We challenge the myth: Pay satisfaction mitigates dishonesty across nations consistently. Based on 6500 managers in 32 countries, our cross-level three-dimensional visualization offers the following discoveries. Under high aspiration conditions, pay dissatisfaction excites the highest- (third-highest) avaricious justice-seeking dishonesty in high (medium) CPI nations, supporting the certainty effect. However, pay satisfaction provokes the second-highest avaricious opportunity-seizing dishonesty in low CPI entities, sustaining the possibility effect—maximizing expected utility. Under low aspiration conditions, high pay satisfaction consistently leads to low dishonesty, demonstrating risk aversion—achieving ultimate serenity. We expand prospect theory from a micro and individual-level theory to a cross-level theory of monetary wisdom across 32 nations. We enhance the S-shaped Curve to three 3-D corruption surfaces across three levels of the global economic pyramid, providing novel insights into behavioral economics, business ethics, the environment, and responsibility. (shrink)

Fıkıh usulünün dil ve yorum bahislerinde yer alan konulardan biri âmm lafızlardır. İlk dönemlerde umum ifadelerin tanımına, varlığına ve kapsamına dair tartışmalar yer alırken Gazzâlî sonrasında klasik mantığın konularından olan tümeller de tartışmada yerini aldı. Bu makale âmm lafızların gönderimde bulunduğu anlamın tümelliğini sorgulamakta ve klasik sonrası usul düşünürlerinin umum-tümel ilişkisine dair teorik açıklamalarını incelemektedir. Makalenin iddiası şudur: Fıkıh usulünün elfâz bahislerinde ele alınan umum ifadelerin tümellere delâletini savunan ve bunu dilin zihnî suretlere vaz olunmasına bağlayan ilk usulcü Gazzâlî’dir (ö. (...) 505/1111). Fahreddin er-Râzî (ö. 606/1210) ve sonraki dönem usulcüler ise âmm lafızların tümelliğini kabul etmemiş sadece fertleri arasında tümel bir anlamın var olduğunu savunmuştur. Aynı düşünceyi devam ettiren Karâfî (ö. 684/1285), İsfahânî (ö. 688/1289) ve Sübkî (ö. 771/1370), İbn Sînâ’nın (ö. 428/1037) etkisiyle umum ifadeleri tümel önermeler olarak değerlendirirken Teftâzânî (ö. 792/1390) kapsam kavramı üzerinden hem tüm hem tümel olarak görmüştür. Her iki farklı anlayışın öğretilerini eklektik bir tavırla inceleyen Cem‘u’l-cevâmi‘ üzerine şerh ve haşiye yazan usulcüler ise tüm, tümel ve tümel önerme olmak üzere üç farklı kabul sergilemiştir. (shrink)

İslâm’ın ilk dönemlerinden itibaren Kur’ân’da Arapça dışında bir kelimenin bulunup bulunma-dığı hususunda farklı görüşler ileri sürülmüştür. Bu görüşler çerçevesinde mesele, Kur’ân’da yabancı dillerden bazı kelimelerin bulunup bulunmadığı merkezinde tartışıldığı gibi, bazı kelimelerin köken itibarıyla Arapça olmakla beraber şer’î terminolojinin ortaya çıkışı sonra-sında Arapların o zamana kadar bilmediği yeni anlamlar kazanmış olmasının Kur’ân’ın arabî olmasına engel teşkil edip etmeyeceği boyutuyla da tartışılmıştır. Şâfiî, Kur’ân’ın arabîliği görüşünün ilk ve en tavizsiz savunucularından biridir. Kur’ân, muhatapları Arap olduğu için Arapça nazil olmuştur. Her dil, (...) o dili konuşan halkın kültürünü ve düşünce yapısını da barındı-rır. Şâfiî nazarında Kur’ân’ın arabî olması Arap dilinin kurallarına, üslubuna uygun olmasının ötesinde Arap kültürünü ve düşünce yapısını da barındırması demektir. Muhataplar açısından bakınca da kendi dillerinde inen vahyin kendileri için olabildiğince açık/mübin olması gerekir. Dolayısyla Şâfiî’nin er-Risâle’de, nasslardan hüküm çıkarırken Arapçanın kural ve üsluplarını dikkate alma üzerine kurmuş olduğu beyân teorisi Kur’an’ın arabî olması ile yakından alakalı-dır. Bu makalede Şâfiî’nin konuya dair görüşleri er-Risâle isimli eseri merkeze alınarak tespit edilmeye çalışılmıştır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Arap dili, Fıkıh, Şâfiî, Beyân, Kur’an’ın Arabîliği. (shrink)

Dār al-Qurʾāns, which were among the madrasas in the Ottoman period and where qirāʾāt was taught, turned into the Qur'āns schools after the law on unity of education, enacted on March 3, 1924. That was the end of the institutional entity of qirāʾāt education in Turkey. Afterwards, a number of qirāʾāt teachers kept performing this education by their individual efforts. Among these teachers, Osman Nuri Taşkent who was the former head-imam of Nuruosmaniye Mosque in Istanbul was assigned as a (...) Qurʾān teacher in Adapazarı in 1936. This research aiming to address Taskent’s service as a public servant, his educational activities, and his role in the re-institutionalization of the qirāʾāt education is planned as a qualitative case study and carried out by document analysis and interview techniques. In conclusion, this study has demonstrated that (a) this school which aimed to be offered in Adapazarı was planned as qirāʾāt education school, (b) Taşkent was the responsible official teacher (c) 14 students graduated under his mentorship in Adapazarı, and (d) this institution was named as Dār al-Ḥuffāz of Adapazarı in his period. Moreover, it shows that after the leaving of Taşkent, this school maintained the education under the responsibility of Himmet Babalıoğlu who is one of the former students; however, the type of education changed and turned into a general Qur'āns chool.Summary: With the law of unified education which is a turning point in the history of Turkish education, all educational institutions were gathered under responsibility of the Ministry of Education. However, madrasas were closed approximately two months later, even though it was not included in the law. Along with the madrasas, Dār al-Qurrā that are the institutions performing education on the recitation, memorizing, and the principles ofreading the Qurʾān were also attempted to be closed with the similar understanding. However, the President of the Religious Affairs in this period opposed this attempt and these institutions turned into Qurʾān schools due to the insistences of the president that these institutions should maintain their education under the responsibility of the presidency of religious affairs. After this change, qirāʾāt education lost its institutional entity.Whether Dār al-Qurrās have been able to continue education since 1925 as Qurʾān schools is controversial. According to some researchers, the Qurʾān schools after this change were not closed as opposed to other religious institutions, imam hatip schools and Darülfünun Faculty of Theology, and continued their education. Another view is that these courses were officially opened for the first time in 1925, closed since 1929 with the alphabet revolution in 1928, but they restarted education in 1930 with the permission for limited locations in Anatolia and for some teachers in Istanbul. Another view is that the courses planned to be opened in ten places could not be activated due to some obstacles in 1925, but they could be opened after the closing of imam hatip schools after 1930.In some studies, it is stated that the qirāʾāt education, which lost its institutional existence with the conversion of Dār al-Qurrās to the Qurʾān schools, providing general Qurʾān education has been continued with individual efforts of some qirāʾāt teachers such as Serezli Ahmed Şükrü (d. 1932), Hamdi Efendi (d. 1939), Akrepoğlu Osman Nûrî Taşkent (d. 1942), Ömer Aköz (d. 1952), (Ayağıkesik) İsmail Hakkı Bayrı (d. 1972), Hasan Akkus (d. 1972) and Üsküdarlı Ali Efendi (d. 1976). In the same studies, it is also underlined that the science of qirāʾāt regained an institutional entity only after the attempts of Tayyar Altıkulaç in 1968, with the sending of the Diyanet to Aşıkkutlu, honorarily occupied with the science of qirāʾāt in Uğurlu town of Of. However, the fact that Osman Nuri Taşkent was appointed in 1936 as Qurʾān teacher in Adapazarı while he had been the chief-imam of the Istanbul Nuruosmaniye Mosque reveals that the efforts for the institutionalisation of the qirāʾāt education began much earlier.This research aiming to address Taskent’s service as a public servant, his educational activities, and his role in the re-institutionalization of the qirāʾāt education is planned as a qualitative case study. The main problem in the study is whether the appointment of Osman Nuri Taşkent, the chief-imam of the Istanbul Nuruosmaniye Mosque in 1936, as a Qurʾān teacher in Adapazarı is an attempt to establish an institution of qirāʾāt education in the early period of the republic, or not, and the some results are as follows:In the diploma that he awarded Himmet Babalıoğlu who one of his students in Adapazarı, Taşkent presented himself as assigned the teacher and tutor by Turkish Republic for those who want to memorize and learn the Qurʾān as well as to learn qirāʾāt according to books of Shātibiyya and Durra in Adapazarı. This statement shows that his main reason for the leaving Istanbul was qirāʾāt education. Before his appointment to Adapazarı in 1936, Taşkent was giving qirāʾāt education at the Nuruosmaniye Mosque. Accordingly, in his interview with Diyanet Magazine in 1989, Hızal who is one of previous students stated that he had received qirāʾāt education from Taşkent in Nuruosmaniye since the early 1930s. Moreover, in his ratification letter, he stated that Hızal got ratification for Taṣḥīḥ al-Ḥurūf on July 13th, 1933 and qirāʾāt on May 10th, 1935. These statements show that he was occupying with qirāʾāt education in Istanbul. In this case, it is not reasonable to assume that he was appointed in Adapazarı for general Qurʾān teaching.Some documents also clearly reveal that Taşkent went to Adapazarı for qirāʾāt education, and the education he provided there is about qirāʾāt. Six years after Taşkent left Adapazarı, the informative letter which the Adapazarı muftī of the period wrote to the Presidency of Religious Affairs is perhaps the most important document. According to this document, 14 students studied Taṣḥīḥ al-Ḥurūf in Adapazarı graduated under his mentorship. However, it should be immediately stated that “Taṣḥīḥ al-Ḥurūf” in this letter means qirāʾāt education in consideration of that Babalıoğlu and Hızal were among the 14 students. Because Babalıoğlu learned qirāʾāt all of them from Taşkent as in his diploma and Hızal received diploma of Taqrīb. Furthermore, Himmet Babalıoğlu and İsmail Uziş who were the students in Adapazarı submitted their petitions to ask the left position by Taşkent. These petitions are ones of the important documents proving that the process started with Taşkent in Adapazarı was qirāʾāt education. Accordingly, they both addressed their candidacy for Adapazarı Qurʾān teaching by emphasizing their qirāʾāt education and competence in this field.A clear answer may not be given to the question of "Is the appointment of Taşkent as a Qurʾān teacher in Adapazarı individually given to him or is an institution established there?" in the context of his departure. However, some correspondences show that this education was an institutional activity for his period. Then, when it is aimed to identify qirāʾāt education as an institution for its period, the title of “Dār al-Huffāz of Adapazarı” is used and Taşkent is described as “Adapazarı Qurʾān Teacher”. Additionally, as Adapazarı Qurʾān teaching had an institutional quality, one of his students, Himmet Babalıoğlu, was appointed to the relevant position after him. (shrink)

I argue that Spinoza endorses "conceptual dependence monism," the thesis that all forms of metaphysical dependence (such as causation, inherence, and existential dependence) are conceptual in kind. In the course of explaining the view, I further argue that it is actually presupposed in the proof for his more famed substance monism. Conceptual dependence monism also illuminates several of Spinoza’s most striking metaphysical views, including the intensionality of causal contexts, parallelism, metaphysical perfection, and explanatory rationalism. I also argue that this priority (...) of the conceptual does not commit Spinoza to forms of idealism or mentalism. The question of how to understand different kinds of metaphysical dependence is quite controversial in Spinoza studies; I address major alternative readings in the notes. But there I also try to draw connections to the growing debate in contemporary discussions about metaphysical dependence, as this topic is a happy point of shared interest between Spinoza and contemporary metaphysicians alike. (shrink)

Science is widely regarded as the most reliable epistemic source of providing knowledge about the world. Policymakers intend to make purposeful changes in the world. The practice of policymakers relying on scientific experts to make informed decisions about which policies to implement is called Evidence Based Policymaking. This thesis provides a perspective from the philosophy of science in order to discuss the justifiability of Evidence Based Policymaking (EBP) with respect to broadly democratic and liberal values. Justifying EBP with broadly democratic (...) and liberal values entails that the practices of EBP promote, or at least are in harmony with, values such as democratic governance and enhancement of people’s freedom and autonomy. Identifying the conditions under which practices of EBP meet such desiderata minimally requires an understanding of how sciences and scientific experts are instrumental in realizing the public’s values, needs, interests, and pursuit of freedom. In order to approach this project, the thesis adopts a philosophical perspective to conceptualize how sciences are supposed to be guided by or promote society’s values, needs, and interests. Specifically, it adopts a perspective from the philosophy of science that focuses on the relationship between science and (societal) values. The kind of philosophy of science perspective on “values in science” that this thesis adopts has two overarching pursuits relevant for the project of the thesis. Firstly, it seeks to inform the debates about which values and non-epistemic considerations are supposed to inform scientific research. For instance, it discusses the proper sources/owners of the non-epistemic desiderata that inform scientific research and the proper social mechanisms to identify these non-epistemic desiderata (e.g. Kourany, 2010; Kitcher, 2011). Second, it offers theories of the non-epistemic values’ proper roles in scientific reasoning and research that specify how their involvement in science does not unduly compromise the epistemic pursuits of science. The values-in-science perspective thereby seeks to balance the instrumental value of science (i.e., its use to pursue certain societal projects and values) with its epistemic authority (i.e., its objectivity, non-dogmatism, and reliability). The thesis advances an understanding of EBP from the perspective of the values in science by addressing issues that come to the fore when EBP is acknowledged as a value-laden practice of informed decision-making. (shrink)

As in the Arab and Persian literatures, many works have been written on the education and teaching of tajwīd, which provides the correct reading of the Qurʼān in Islamic Turkish Literature. Works on this subject were written generally as prose. Besides, some of these works were written in verse style because of practical benefits in education. In this context, the work named Ẓafar written by S̲h̲umnulu Ḥilmī Efendi (d. 1200/1785-86), which is one of the poetical tajwīds that has not been (...) studied enough, is one of the works that can be evaluated under a separate title within religious literaty genres such as forty hadith, ʻaqāʼidnāme and s̲h̲urūt al-ṣalāt (pillars or prayer). This study primarily deals with Ḥilmī Efendi’s tajwīd of verse in Turkish, named Ẓafar, with form and content analysis. The aim of the study is to give information about Ḥilmī Efendi, based on his works and to reveal the text of the work named Ẓafar, which has been transcribed. The importance of the study stems from the fact that it will introduce the first Turkish tajwīd written in verse as far as it has been identified and the master of qırāʼat poet author who can be accepted as the founder of this genre.Summary: During the formation of Islamic sciences such as tafsīr, hadīth, kalām, fiḳh, and ḳırāʼat many works related to these sciences were written in Arabic, Persian, and Kurdish languages. After Turks met with Islam, works were written in verse and prose style to learn the al-Ḳurʼān, the hadīth and the sciences that would help to understand these two sources in order to live a true faith and worship life. On the other hand, as a result of the writing of verse works, some literary genres emerged in Turkish Islamic literature. This issue has also been appeared in the science of tajwīd, which is defined as “a set of rules for the correct pronunciation of the letters with all their qualities” and which ensures the Ḳurʼān to be read properly. As a matter of fact, the writing of both prose and verse tajwīd works defined as a religious-literary genre is an indication of this phenomenon. For instance, Tuḥfe-i Şerīfī (S̲h̲erīfī d. 1260/1844) and Naẓmuʼl-Ehem (S̲h̲eyhī d. 1235/1819-20) are examples of verse tajwīd works. In this context, one of the verse tajwīds is Ẓafar, which is defined by his own writer, S̲h̲umnulu Ḥilmī Efendi, as the first work written in this type.The author of the work, Ḥilmī Efendi, lived in Vardar Yenicesi (Giannitsa) for a long time and died in Hijāz in 1200 (1785-86), is one of the 18th century authors and an specialist in the field. In the work named Osmanli Müellifleri (Bursalı Meḥmed Ṭāhir, 1333 / Ottoman Authors) it is stated that he has works named Manẓūm Tajwīd (Ẓafar) and Manẓūm S̲h̲urūt-ı ṣalāt (Naẓm-ı nefīs) and that he wrote death dates with poetry on the gravestones of the grandchildren of G̲h̲āzī Evrenos Bey (d. 820/1417) and an Arabic khatim prayer. Information about Ḥilmī Efendi's personality, educational life, and scientific level could not be found. One of the works of Ḥilmī Efendi is Naẓm-ı nefīs, which was written in 1190/1776-77, and is in the form of S̲h̲urūt-ı ṣalāt. In this work of 125 couplets except for the title of “Tertīb-i Secāvend-i Ḥurūf” (fāʻilātün fāʻilātün fāʻilün) the author used the meter of the fāʻilātün fāʻilātün fāʻilātün fāʻilün and preferred the masnavī as a form of verse. The work consists of a introduction of 9 couplets, a main part of 24 couplets, an addition and conclusion of 3 couplets.Another work of Ḥilmī Efendi is the work called Ẓafar in the form of verse tajwīd, which he wrote on the request of some of his friends and which is the main subject of this study. There is no record of the writing date of this work. This study also includes the transcribed text of the work. However, when considering the period the author lived in and the time of his other work Naẓm-ı nefīs (1190/1776-77) it is estimated that Ẓafar was written after the second half of the 18th century. However no manuscript copy of Ẓafar could be found. Therefore, for the text to be transcribed in this study, the oldest dated and printed copy with Arabic diacritics of the work (Istanbul: Dār at-tıbāʻa al-āmire, 1265) was taken as basis. In this copy, the work was incorrectly named as Tajwīd-i Manẓūm. Also, there are some typographical errors in the headlines or text; these errors were tried to be corrected. It consists of 71 couplets; an introduction and 25 main titles. Ẓafar, written was written in half, full and rich rhyme. In some places, as well as rhyme, redif (repeated voice) created with an appendix or a word was used. The work has a clear, intriguing and narrative language and expression.Traditionally, the author starts his work by praising God, salawat, prayer, followed by a statement about the importance and the provisions of the learning tajwīd. Then the author gives informations about some tajwīd subjects such as ḥarf-i med, sebeb-i med, medd-i muttaṣıl, medd-i munfaṣıl, and so forth.The author bases on the Ḥafṣ narration of the ḳırāʼat of the ʻĀṣım probably because of taking into account the readers. Another point that draws attention in the work is that the tajwīd issues are explained shorter and clearer compared to other verse tajwīds. There are also no secondary topics such as ţūl, tevaṣṣut, ḳaṣr, ḥarf-i muḫaffefe, kelime-i müṡaḳḳale or istiʻāẕe-basmala, states of tā-i teʼnīṡ. To provide an easy memoration Ḥilmī Efendi does not apply the method of formulations of letters corresponding to the bases such as ikhfā, iẓhār as in many other tajwīd Works. Instead, he writes the letters of a specific rule one by one. Additionally, he does not give many examples from Qurʾān verses to consolidate the rules, and sometimes refers only to the surahs. With his work called Ẓafar, the author follows and represents the tradition of religious-literary works in general, and in particular, the tradition of the verse tajwīd. In some verse types of tajwīd works, for example, only subjects of ḳatʻ and vaṣl are discussed, however, in Ẓafar, most rules of tajwīd are included.It can also be said that the work has a special place and importance due to the possibility of being the first text (constituent text) written in verse tajwīd. On the other hand, when considering the conditions of the period and the fact that it was published more than once, it can be stated that Ẓafar was used as a material in educational activities and raised attention. (shrink)

Abstractabstract:Pierre-Sylvain Regis, once a well-known defender of Cartesianism, offers an unusually rich and innovative refutation of Spinoza. While many of his early modern contemporaries raised narrower objections to particular claims in Spinoza's Ethics, Regis develops a broader anti-Spinozistic position, one that threatens the very core of Spinoza's metaphysical ambitions and offers a philosophically robust alternative. However, as with any far-reaching philosophical commitment, Regis's gambit comes with substantive costs of its own, including creating instabilities within the core of his own philosophical (...) system. Far from diminishing the significance of Regis's anti-Spinozism, this critical appraisal helps us better appreciate both the conceptual pull of Spinozism within early modern metaphysics and one sweeping, albeit costly way of escaping its orbit. (shrink)

This paper focuses on Hume’s discussions of evil, with an eye toward both contemporary disputes in philosophy of religion and Hume’s own eighteenth-century context. Following preliminary remarks about the texts and context, the second section explores the wide variety of problems of evil found in Hume’s writings, arguing that this multifaceted presentation is one of Hume’s greatest contributions to contemporary discussions of evil. In the third section, the focus shifts to the unfolding discussion of evil in Dialogues X–XI, offering a (...) close, critical reading of the exchanges between Philo and Cleanthes. The final section consists of a critical evaluation of Hume’s main claims concerning God and evil, ending with an overview of Hume’s enduring legacy on this topic. (shrink)

Laura Hassan. Ash‘arism Encounters Avicennism: Sayf al-Dīn al-Āmidī on Creation.

Buddhist perspectives on ethics and emptiness.

It is generally considered and widely accepted that Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī School to be effective in the formation and development of Ottoman intellectual life. However, there are some ʻulamā’ such as Jalāl al-Dīn al-Dawānī, who influenced the Ottoman mindset with both their works and ideas and beyond, they create distinct traditions. Present outline aims to draw attention to this issue through Mu’ayyadzāda ʻAbd al-Raḥmān Efendi, who is a famous disciple and representative of al-Dawānī perspective in Anatolia. In this respect, it (...) introduces the two risālas belongs to him that are important in terms of his theory of nature, and by moving here it points to some questions that need to be answered here and some issues that need to be addressed. (shrink)

A theological examination and modern restatement of a Christian understanding of God, Father, Son and Spirit.

This paper consists of two parts and has two aims. The first is to elaborate on the historical-philosophical background of Cantor’s notions of infinity in the context of Spinoza’s influence on him. To achieve this aim, in the first part I compare Spinoza’s and Cantor’s conceptions of actual infinity along with their mathematical implications. Explaining the metaphysical, conceptual, and methodological aspects of Cantor’s expansion of the orthodox finitist conception of number of his time, I discuss how he adopts Spinoza’s motifs (...) to overcome the challenges on his way to proposing his transfinite infinites. To achieve the second aim, i.e., to investigate the philosophical foundations of Cantor’s transfinite infinites, I follow a three-step outline analyzing Cantor’s three principles along with their metaphysical and epistemological-linguistic aspects. I analyze the strengths and weak sides of Lakoff and Núñez’s Basic Metaphor of Infinity and Pantsar’s Process → Object Metaphor, then compare their interpretations with mine. I conclude that the metaphors can be improved when their source domains are limited to the target domains they apply to and when supported by a thorough analysis of the historical-philosophical background of their target domains. (shrink)