IS IT POSSIBLE TO KNOW

ABOUT THINGS, OF
WHICH WE CAN HAVE NO
EXPERIENCE, SUCH AS
INFINITY?
Calista, Gersha & Jonathan
DEFINITIONS OF KNOWING: WHAT IS KNOWLEDGE?

01 Justified
Reliable, Objective

02 True
Verifiable, Beyond
Reasonable Doubt

03 Belief
Subjective
 A belief is an internal thought
or memory which exists in one's
mind. Most people accept that for What is the difference
a belief to be knowledge it must
be, at least, true and
between knowledge
justified." Broadly speaking, and belief?
knowledge is objective truth
while belief is subjective truth.

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 WHAT IS TRUTH?

This theory states that a statement (a “proposition”) is true if it

corresponds to (or reflects) reality. If somebody states “It is raining”
(the proposition) then it is true only if it is really raining outside
CORRESPONDENCE (reality).

This theory states that a statement (a proposition) is true if it is consistent

with other things that are considered true (and do not contradict it). For
COHERENCE example, I hear a pencil falling to the ground. A second person in the room also
hears it, and the pencil that I just saw on my table a moment ago is now gone.
Three observations fit together: me hearing it, a second person hearing it and the
missing pencil. According to the coherence theory, the proposition “the pencil hit
PRAGMATIC the ground” is true. But did the pencil really fall to the ground or can something
else explain these observations?

This theory states that something is true if it is useful. Whether or not it reflects
reality is of minor importance. Somebody (person A) may, for example, believe that
earning much money is the most important thing in one’s life. This belief is true for
this person and it is indeed a very useful belief. The person’s actions will be guided
by this belief. The statement “Earning much money is important” is true for this person.
 A knowledge claim
something that a
What Are Knowledge Claims? claimant believes (or
purports) to be true,
but is open to
fact-checking

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 EPISTEMOLOGY: HOW DO YOU KNOW?
Epistemology is the understanding of “How do we know what we know
is true?”

In science and history, we have methods or ways to observe and

discover things.

In epistemology, we observe and study the methods or ways of

discovery.

For example 1+1 = 2 and “how do we add two numbers?”

It is the justification of Knowledge Claims.

 HOW IS KNOWLEDGE OBTAINED?

NON-EMPIRICAL
knowledge can be
EMPIRICISM obtained without
based on experience
experiences,
five senses,
perceptual
observations

EMPIRICAL
knowledge could
RATIONALISM only be obtained
knowledge is not with certain
obtained from sensory
experience, experiences,
intuitive and supported by
reason reason
 EVIDENCE OF POTENTIAL INFINITY
Aristotle first introduced the difference between two types of infinity; potential
infinity and actual infinity. Potential infinity can be used to explain why the
universe is never-ending and how it keeps on expanding forever, or how a list of
numbers do not stop (for example, natural numbers such as 1,2,3,4,5…). He stated that
they existed and they make perfect sense about the existing universe. Potential
infinity also applies to real numbers.

The theory of actual infinity will be explained later.

Real numbers are rational numbers that exist, which may be written out in decimal
form, including recurring decimals. Irrational numbers such as π can be considered a
potential infinity due to having a number ending decimal form: 3.14159…. The term
potential infinity is used to explain how these numbers don’t actually end.

Brouwer has a different concept; the acceptable infinity, which is closer to the
theory of potential infinity rather than actual infinity. He created this theory
because he believed that an infinite list of natural numbers does not exist, and
which is why he created this theory.

He believed that our concept of infinity should not relate directly to natural
numbers, as infinity is not only limited to simply numbers, but rather to our own
experience - time. When you have a certain amount of time, you can divide it further
into different durations, and these parts can be divided further, and this goes on
and on. This is also a form of potential infinity.

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EVIDENCE OF COUNTABLE INFINITY
Georg Cantor, a mathematician, rephrased
the definition of mathematical infinities.
While infinity is a never-ending process as
explained in potential infinity, Cantor
pointed out that infinity has sizes, and
that the smallest type of infinity is the
countable infinity. Any infinity that can
be counted by setting its numbers in
one-to-one correspondence with natural
numbers can also be included as a countable
infinity.
Cantor believed that there are no
infinities, between natural numbers and
simple integers, but no one has ever been
able to prove that there are no
infinities.(proof that no infinity does not
exist)
Continuing the pattern, every integer will
be assigned to a natural number, and
therefore, these two sets are seen as the
same size, making both countable
infinities, even though the natural numbers
itself are simply a subset of the integers.
ACTUAL INFINITY
The last type of infinity is the actual
infinity which revolves around the expansion
of the universe, and is associated with
gravitational theory and cosmology. Einstein
stated that the expansion of the universe
began in the past (where time was finite) and
when density itself was infinite; this is
known as the Big Bang Theory. The theory of
actual infinity is that there are black holes
in more black holes, and not only in the
Milky Way Galaxy, but also in other galaxies,
which would mean the density in the centre is
so strong and so uncountable, it is stated to
be infinite. If these black holes exist, they
would be known as actual infinities.
In conclusion, there is evidence for countable
infinity and potential infinity, but not for
actual infinity
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 WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO UNDERSTAND?

- interpret or view (something)

in a particular way
- infer something from
information received (often
used as a polite formula in
conversation)
- perceive the intended meaning
of (words, a language, or a
speaker)
- perceive the significance,
explanation, or cause of
(something)
 THINK ABOUT THIS

You cannot actually When asked the

see the number of question, “Do you know
fingers I am holding how many fingers I am Consider the possibility that I am lying.
I say, “I am currently holding two up but do you holding up?”, do you You will not actually know the answer
fingers behind my back.” understand the have the answer or did even if there is no reason to think I am
meaning of my you just accept and lying. If you BELIEVED that my
sentence? believe what I told you? statement was true, you would have
thought that you KNEW the answer,
when in reality, you simply understood
and accepted a given statement you
thought to be JUSTIFIED.
 CONCLUSION

You can claim that you know something when you know its properties.
For example, Infinity is really large and if you subtract infinity from infinity it might still be infinity, etc.
So even if we have no experience of infinity, we can understand what infinity is.
However, we do not know the physical implications of infinity such as infinite distance or infinite time.

We conclude that although it is possible to

understand, it is not possible to know about
things of which we can have no experience.