«Punctus in hoc stat, scilicet in processu in infinitum»
On Cusanus’ Conception of the Mathematical Point
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.6093/2284-0184/10677Keywords:
Cusanus, Matematichs, Point, Infinity, OneAbstract
In this article, the author investigates Cusanus’ idea of geometric point that is problematic in three respects. The first concerns the constitution of the point as a mathematical entity: the problem is given by the possible interpretations of the Cusanian abstractio, which oscillates between an Aristotelian-Thomist approach and a “proto-modern” conception. The second concerns the relationship of the point with the one: Cusanus on the one hand affirms the priority of the one over the point, which of that is explicatio; on the other it seems to separate the one and the point, identifying them in two distinct principles (equally original) of two different fields, arithmetic and geometry. The third problem is that of the divisibility or not of the point, a topic particularly discussed at that time.
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