Archimedean point

English Etymology In reference to the ancient mathematician Archimedes, who supposedly claimed that he could lift the Earth off its foundation if he were given a place to stand, one solid point, and a long enough lever. Attributed to en Q9191 1 1. Noun A hypothetical viewpoint from which certain objective truths can be perfectly perceived, or from which one may reliably start a chain of reasoning. en 1963 R. M. Hutchins; M. J. Adler The Conquest of Space and the Stature of Man The Great Ideas Today William Benton w:Hannah Arendt 46 https://archive.org/details/greatideastod1963hutc/page/46/mode/1up In terms of this development, the attempt to conquer space means that man hopes he will be able to journey to the Archimedean point which he anticipated by sheer force of abstraction and imagination. en 2021 God, Human, Animal, Machine: Technology, Metaphor, and the Search for Meaning w:Meghan O'Gieblyn 8 9780385543835 There is no Archimedean point, no purely objective vista that allows us to transcend our human interests and see the world from above, as we once imagined it appeared to God. It is our distinctive vantage that binds us to the world and sets the necessary limitations that are required to make sense of it. en eponyms