Quantum

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The quantum is determinate quantity - a magnitude with a limit (5 meters, 100 degrees). Unlike the qualitative limit, the quantitative limit is indifferent: more or less does not change the What. The quantum has a double structure: extensive (divisible, additive like length) and intensive (indivisible, a degree like temperature). It stands in relation to other quanta (direct 1:2, inverse 1/x, power x²). Bad infinity shows itself here as "always still more."

Origin: Lat. "quantum" (how great, how much). In Scholasticism: quantitas (magnitude as such) vs. quantum (determinate magnitude). Newton: quantity as measurable magnitude. Hegel: quantum as a moment in the self-development of being.

In Hegel: Enz. §101-102; Science of Logic, Vol. 1, Quantity

Cross-references: Quantity, Measure, Extensive, Intensive, Continuity, Discreteness, Logic of Being

Commentary on the Logic, Chapter 2

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