Co-Presence In Cantor's Transfinite Summary

As Russell reconstructs the idea of co-presence in the light of physics, mathematics, and cosmology, he appeals to the examples of non-Hausdorff manifolds and Cantor’s threefold concept of the finite, the transfinite, and the infinite in mathematics and to the non-locality of quantum mechanics. Thereby, he renders co-presence as an infinite fractal-like character. To be more specific, gleaning from Pannenberg the idea of the dialectical mutual indwelling of the finite and the infinite, based on Hegel’s concept of infinity, Russell specifies the notion of infinite as the consummation of the finite that is yet larger than their sum. In so doing, he employs Georg Cantor’s notion of the transfinite. As Pannenberg sees God as ontologically …show more content…
Hausdorff manifold space is analogically applicable to the temporality of the present creation where certain enduring periods of time are separated in the succession of moments with the loss of the past and the unavailability of the future. However, with non-Hausdorff manifold, one can conceptualize the co-presence of different enduring fragments of time, while their distinction is preserved. In other words, there can be “temporal distinctions without …show more content…
Here the mutual dialogue is possible by virtue of the philosophical notion of contingency that bridges theology and natural science. The contingency of the universe is not merely a temporal finitude of the universe, but also includes the ontological contingency of its existence while historical contingency is not downplayed. Thus, God’s creation is not only in an unmediated form but also can be seen as a “mediated and direct mode” as one can interpret the transition from the Hawking domain into the Einstein domain as God’s creative presence ex nihilo. Likewise, in creatio ex vetere, the eschatological transformation of the universe, God’s redemptive presence is not only in an unmediated mode but also in a mediated and direct mode of divine action. For this reason, the notion of precondition of ex vetere in the present creation becomes important for Russell. The preconditions imply the transformability of the universe in ontological openness to the radically transformative divine action. This is not the violation of the natural order, but rather the fulfillment of the ongoing creation of the