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Debate around the Infinite

Summary/Abstract: In the 17th century the most lively philosophical debate concerned the origin of ideas in the mind. In this study we analyze this debate in a specific aspect, in the context of the origin of the idea of infinity. We present the opposing arguments. The empiricists claim that the idea of infinity is formed in the mind from quantities finite by their increase. Descartes, Leibniz and Malebranche claim, on the other hand, that the mind possesses the idea of infinity originally and say that this idea, as it is in the mind, cannot be formed from finite ideas.

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