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Single Idea 17797

[filed under theme 6. Mathematics / A. Nature of Mathematics / 5. The Infinite / a. The Infinite ]

Full Idea

We may describe Cantor's achievement by saying, not that he tamed the infinite, but that he extended the finite.

Gist of Idea

Cantor extended the finite (rather than 'taming the infinite')

Source

John Mayberry (What Required for Foundation for Maths? [1994], p.414-2)

Book Ref

'Philosophy of Mathematics: anthology', ed/tr. Jacquette,Dale [Blackwell 2002], p.414

Related Ideas

Idea 17798 Cantor presented the totality of natural numbers as finite, not infinite [Cantor, by Mayberry]

Idea 17799 Cantor's infinite is an absolute, of all the sets or all the ordinal numbers [Mayberry]