ABSTRACT

I heap up monstrous numbers, pile millions upon millions, I put æon upon æon and world upon world, and when from that awful height reeling, I seek Thee, all the might of number increased a thousandfold is still not a fragment of Thee. I remove them and Thou liest wholly before me. (Albrecht von Haller) Now, little ship, look out! Beside you is the ocean: to be sure, it does not always roar, and at times it lies spread out like silk and gold and reveries of graciousness. But hours will come when you realize that it is infinite and that there is nothing more awesome than infinity. (Friedrich Nietzsche)

1 Hegel

Kant’s influence on subsequent philosophy was immense. Metaphysical thought about the infinite in the next two centuries was to be considerably shaped by his vision of man as a radically finite creature cast into an infinite world and yet exalted by the infinitude of his own freedom. The influence is especially clear when we turn to one of the greatest of his successors, the German philosopher G.W.F.Hegel (1770-1831).