A RESPONSE TO LOKE'S ‘IS AN INFINITE TEMPORAL REGRESS OF EVENTS POSSIBLE?’ (THINK 31)

Loke argues against the possibility of any infinite collection, mainly on the grounds that number as an abstract entity (if it exists) cannot have causal power. But I argue that his argument conflates number as an abstract entity with number as a number of events or things. Loke also maintains that...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Think : philosophy for everyone 2014, Vol.13 (36), p.85-88
Main Author: Lyth, Peter
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Philosophy
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Summary:Loke argues against the possibility of any infinite collection, mainly on the grounds that number as an abstract entity (if it exists) cannot have causal power. But I argue that his argument conflates number as an abstract entity with number as a number of events or things. Loke also maintains that a situation of ‘infinities upon infinities’ poses problems, and I argue against this. Finally, Loke queries how an ‘extra’ can be added to an infinite collection, but I suggest this is here a misleading word.
ISSN:1477-1756
1755-1196
DOI:10.1017/S1477175613000341