infinite regress

American  

noun

Philosophy.

1. causal or logical relationship of terms in a series without the possibility of a term initiating the series.

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Etymology

Origin of infinite regress

First recorded in 1830–40

Example Sentences

In order to avoid an infinite regress, we must assume an unmoved mover who put all the entities into motion.

From Textbooks • Jun. 15, 2022

The story doesn’t build so much as it burrows, digging into crevices to reveal an infinite regress of damage.

From New York Times • Jul. 29, 2020

This is the problem of infinite regress, which bedevils all who try to explain why there is something rather than nothing.

From Scientific American • Sep. 7, 2019

Others include LEDs and mirrors configured to create the illusion of infinite regress.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 9, 2017

Our familiar universe of galaxies and stars, planets and people, would be a single elementary particle in the next universe up, the first step of another infinite regress.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan