Thesis. In order that decision by arbitrary power may be possible in spite of completely definite laws of the action of ideas, one must assume that the psychic mechanism itself has, or at least in its development acquires, the peculiar property of inducing the necessity of these laws. Antithesis. No one can, in case of affairs, abandon the conviction that the future is co-determined by his transactions." - Meaning and context.">
Antimonies
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II. Thesis. In order that decision by arbitrary power may be possible in spite of completely definite laws of the action of ideas, one must assume that the psychic mechanism itself has, or at least in its development acquires, the peculiar property of inducing the necessity of these laws. Antithesis. No one can, in case of affairs, abandon the conviction that the future is co-determined by his transactions.

— Bernhard Riemann

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "II. Thesis. In order that decision by arbitrary power may be possible in spite of completely definite laws of the action of ideas, one must assume that the psychic mechanism itself has, or at least in its development acquires, the peculiar property of inducing the necessity of these laws. Antithesis. No one can, in case of affairs, abandon the conviction that the future is co-determined by his transactions." in the context of "Antimonies" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "Bernhard Riemann" (Quotes, Gesammelte Mathematische Werke (1876): Tr. C. J. Keyser, "On the Psychology of Metaphysics. Being the Philosophical Fragments of Bernhard Riemann." The Monist (1900) Vol. X) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Bernhard Riemann

About Bernhard Riemann

Georg Friedrich Bernhard Riemann (September 17, 1826 – July 20, 1866) was an influential German mathematician who made lasting and revolutionary contributions to analysis, number theory, and differential geometry.