Original scientific paper

Petrić’s Objections to Aristotle’s Notion of the Continuum

Ivica Martinović ; Institute of Philosophy, Zagreb, Croatia

Abstract

The second book of Pancosmia provides full insight into Petrić’s view of the continuum or de divisibilitate quantitatis, offering us many details on Petrić’s futile strategy in refuting Aristotle’s notions of the continuum and the potential infinite. In his objections to Aristotle, Petrić implicitly points the major contributions of Aristotle’s doctrine of continuum, but also submits his own solutions such as the idea of the minimal indivisible line. Although his solutions failed to bring him the results as brilliant as those of Aristotle with the notion of the continuum in the interpretation of nature and mathematics, within his polemic with Aristotle, Petrić comes forward with new questions dealing with the calculus of infinite quantities and genealogy of science.

Keywords

Aristotle; Frane Petrić; continuum; the potential infinite; the postulate of divisibility; minimal indivisible line; calculus of infinite quantities; genealogy of science; geometry; arithmetic

Hrčak ID:

63003

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/63003

Publication date:

25.10.2010.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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