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    If Leibnizian differentials are fictions rather than obje... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→To do full justice to both Leibniz's and Nieuwentijdt's conceptions of infinitesimals, two distinct sorts of infinitesimals are required.

    If Leibnizian differentials are fictions rather than objects, the contrast with Nieuwentijdt's nilsquare infinitesimals is a difference in formal role, not a difference in kind requiring two distinct sorts of entity.

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    Key Terms

    Difference in kind(as used in ontology (the study of what exists))
    A fundamental, essential difference between two things that makes them completely different types (like the difference between a rock and an animal), as opposed to just a difference in degree or appearance.
    Fictions (in philosophy)(as used in philosophy of mathematics)
    Things we treat as real for practical purposes, even though they don't actually exist as objects—like how we might use the concept of a 'center of gravity' in physics even though it's not a physical thing you can touch.
    Formal role(as used in philosophy of mathematics)
    The function or job that something plays in a system—what it does and how it's used, rather than what it actually is in reality.
    Leibnizian differentials(as used in mathematics and philosophy of mathematics)
    In calculus, infinitely small changes in quantities proposed by philosopher and mathematician Gottfried Leibniz; the question here is whether these are real mathematical objects or just useful fictional tools for doing calculations.

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    Nieuwentijdt's nilsquare infinitesimals(as used in history of calculus)
    An alternative mathematical approach to infinitely small numbers proposed by Bernard Nieuwentijdt, where these tiny quantities have special properties (specifically, when you multiply them by themselves, you get zero).

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    To do full justice to both Leibniz's and Nieuwentijdt's conceptions of infinites...

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