Mathematics Research Seminar Series: The Impossibility of the Continuum: Why the shot arrow never moves

Mathematics Research Seminar Series
Hosted by the Didactics in Mathematics Research Group

The Impossibility of the Continuum: Why the shot arrow never moves

Matthias Rugel, S.J.
Lecturer,
Munich School of Philosophy

Date: Thursday, 4 July 2024
Time: 3:00 - 5:00 pm
Venue: (Onsite) SEC C 201, (Online) https://bit.ly/AdmuMathSeminar 

Abstract:
Zeno of Elea wanted to prove that there is no change, but only one being. A flying arrow is precisely in one place at one time, but its movement cannot be understood. Because mathematicians thought they had found the continuum with the introduction of real numbers, they could hope to have Zeno's problem under control. But the real numbers have gaps, even between 0.9999... and 1 there are (in the non-standard analysis) uncountably many numbers. Process philosophers bite the bullet on this problem: without assuming that erratic changes are the fundamental reality, it is impossible to understand the flying arrow. Mathematics that goes beyond standard and non-standard analysis can help.

About the Speaker:
Matthias Rugel, S.J. studied mathematics and philosophy in Munich. His dissertation on “Matter - Causality - Experience: Analytical Metaphysics of Panpsychism” was published in 2013. He works as an adult educator in Ludwigshafen am Rhein in Germany and occasionally as a lecturer at the Munich School of Philosophy.

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