Metafizyka ruchu w Geometrii Kartezjusza

Abstract

The metaphysics of motion in Descartes' Geometry: In Book II of The Geometry, Descartes distinguishes some special lines, which he calls geometrical curves. From the mathematical perspective, these curves are identified with polynomials of two variables. In this way, curves, which were understood as continuous quantities in Greek mathematics, turned into objects composed of points in The Geometry. In this article we present assumptions which led Descartes to this radical change of the concept of curve.