Aristotle and quantity
Aristotle and quantity (this analysis was previously in the entry on infinity).
The infinite is thought to be a type of quantity. But what is a quantity? The idea of quantity may not be definable, as Aristotle regarded it as a category, that is, something that applies to everything, but we may be able to note the conditions under which it exists.
But such conditions made distinct, may be assimilable only by the most compendious of mental capacities, and those with active intellects without the capacity to receive it may not benefit from the distinctions, due to difficulties in assimilation. We first learn by ignoring all but a single aspect of a problem, for which a solution is then found. So if in assimilating such attempts at solution through conceptualization, more important ones suggest themselves to us, it is best to ignore other aspects of the proposed solution until those new problems have been resolved, resolutions which might very well serve as grounds for impeaching the proposed solution before any further assimilation.
That said, we might note as a condition that quantity, in its adjectival form, is a counterpart of quality. We might even say it's self-evident that quantity is a more definite form of quality. There seems to be an issue of relating quantity to quality, as it makes sense to say that qualities are sometimes "reduced" to quantities. So if quality is less definite than quantity, could quality be regarded somehow as subsisting in an indefinite condition and by extension an infinite one, and thus place the infinite in the category of qualities rather than the category of quantities? These are difficult questions with perhaps multiple interpretations. This may call for us to seek out the interpretations that comport the best with what we learn from knowledge authorized by having been drawn from Scripture.
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