Infinite

Product Description

This historical study of the infinite covers all its aspects from the mathematical to the mystical. Anyone who has ever pondered the limitlessness of space & time or the endlessness of numbers or the perfection of God will recognise the special fascination of the subject. Beginning with an entertaining account of the main paradoxes of the infinite including those of Zeno A.W. Moore traces the history of the topic from Aristotle to Kant Hegel Cantor & Wittgenstein. Recent technical work is examined in the light of Cantors remarkable discovery that infinity comes in degrees: some infinite sets are much bigger than others. Moore also gives a crisp sketch of Godels celebrated proof his clear presentation enabling the non-mathematical reader to grasp deep mathematical issues. Drawing on these technical results & on the early work of Wittgenstein Moore outlines his own original account of the infinite. He argues that there are fundamental links between the infinite & the ineffable. In a final chapter on human finitude these & other links are traced out & the book concludes with a moving discussion of death & the poignancy of human finitude.