The Defence of the Spatial Finiteness of the Universe in Greek Philosophy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14422/pen.v80.i311.y2024.026Keywords:
atoms, sphere, space, infinity, universeAbstract
The notion of limit is one of the most significant features of ancient Greece. It played a key role in the Ethics of its culture, as well as in its cosmological theories. However, the notion of a finite and closed universe existed along with proposals in favour of an infinite universe, explicitly defended by the atomists. This conception would gain great acceptance in the Modern Ages, displacing the Ancient notions as obsolete and incoherent. Despite such later displacement, the aim of this paper is to defend the coherence of the thesis of the finite universe in Greek Philosophy by showing how ancient Greek philosophers can answer to the objections posed by the atomists philosophers which challenged them.
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