I recently gave a talk for the Rising Tide Foundation entitled Paolo Sarpi: The Key to Modern Science. In preparation for this talk, I spent some time reading Plato and Aristotle. When I was reading Plato's Timaeus, I was struck by a specific passage [
If the Constructor made the Cosmos, then the universe had a beginning. Ah, said Mr. Clarke, then the universe is finite. But if the Constructor made the Cosmos ageless and unailing, then the universe can have no end. Ah, said Mr. Clarke, then the universe is infinite. So, according to Mr. Clarke, the universe is finite and infinite, OR, the universe is neither finite nor infinite. Leibniz would say, no, the universe had a beginning and has no end.
If the Constructor made the Cosmos, then the universe had a beginning. Ah, said Mr. Clarke, then the universe is finite. But if the Constructor made the Cosmos ageless and unailing, then the universe can have no end. Ah, said Mr. Clarke, then the universe is infinite. So, according to Mr. Clarke, the universe is finite and infinite, OR, the universe is neither finite nor infinite. Leibniz would say, no, the universe had a beginning and has no end.