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Infinite regress and inertia

Infinite regress arguments are all over the place, not just in old fashioned places, like Aquinas's first way. In fact, Galileo's proposal that an already-rolling marble rolling down an infinitely long flat and frictionless plane would continue to do so infinitely... is an infinite regress. But it is by thinking of such infinite regresses that we come up with many novel concepts, insights.

Comments

Leo White said…
Yeah, but Galileo has us suppose that what nature would be like if an infinite regress WERE possible, while Aquinas denies the very possibility. In both cases, thought of the infinite is crucial