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The Theory of Continuity of William of Ockham

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2022

T. Bruce Birch*
Affiliation:
Wittenberg College, Springfield, Ohio

Extract

Ockham realized the value of a careful study and application of the mathematical theory of continuity, even though he possessed no conclusive empirical evidence that it adequately explained the continuity experienced in the world of sense. He also clearly perceived a relation of continuity to infinity, since continuity, as a property of an order which is possible only to a series of terms, must have an infinite number of terms. “A continuous series must have an infinite number of terms.”

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Philosophy of Science Association 1936

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References

A. Quotlibeta Septem; Lib. I., Qu. 9.Google Scholar
B. Bertrand Russell; Our Knowledge of the External World; Lecture V.—The Theory of Continuity.Google Scholar
C. De Sacramento Altaris (edited by T. B. Birch); text and translation.Google Scholar
D. Mind, No. 100; Oct. 1916. C. Delisle Burns: William of Ockham on Continuity; p. 506 ff.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
E. Centiloquium Theologicum, discussing first part; infinite regress, etc.Google Scholar