The philosophical tradition of absolute knowledge assumes that truth represents an indivisible and integral unity that can only be grasped through the immediate merging of consciousness with this absolute.

The Harmony of Holistic Knowledge and Quantitative Precision

The philosophical tradition of absolute knowledge assumes that truth represents an indivisible and integral unity that can only be grasped through the immediate merging of consciousness with this absolute. Such an aspiration requires moving away from the fragmentary and relative aspects of experience in favor of integration, where the object of knowledge is viewed as something unified and indivisible. At the same time, the drive for mathematical precision reflects the conviction that reality can be reduced to quantity—that is, to precisely defined, countable elements. This belief is evident in the statement that “the reduction of the entire variety of experience to quantity was already originally one of the main goals of science” – an approach that emphasizes the role of rigorous quantitative calculations in controlling material reality and constructing precise models.

Thus, the systematization of reality emerges as the result of a dialogue between two directions: on one hand, absolute knowledge strives to encompass the holistic unity of being, which is possible only by eliminating the disjointedness of individual elements of experience; on the other hand, mathematical precision achieves its effectiveness through the reduction of phenomena to their quantitative characteristics. As noted, “the drive for mathematical precision is supported by the organic connection of science with material technologies ... science always seeks the definiteness of quantity” (source: link txt). It is precisely this alignment—between the aspiration for universal knowledge and the need for exact quantitative description—that forms the basis of attempts to create a systematic representation of reality.

Supporting citation(s):
“The drive for mathematical precision is supported by the organic connection of science with material technologies, with technique. Modern science, the science of Leonardo, Galileo, Huygens, arose as much in the minds of philosophers and mathematicians as in arsenals and mechanical workshops. To build mechanical devices one must know the precise dimensions. For a gear to transmit rotational movement in a specific way, to launch a satellite into orbit, or for a chemical reaction to proceed in the intended direction, one must be able to calculate them accurately. Scientific synthesis always appears as a kind of harmony of quantities. Therefore, science always seeks the definiteness of quantity as the truth of things.” (source: link txt)

“The reduction of the entire variety of experience to quantity was already originally one of the main goals of science. The pioneers of 17th-century science tackled this task in different ways but with equal insistence. Descartes, thanks to his metaphysics, reduced physics to geometry, and the latter—through the method of analytical geometry—to arithmetic, to calculations...” (source: link txt)

“Accordingly, the highest aim of human cognition is the understanding of the absolute subject—the 'selfhood' of the existent, which underpins every relative, objective existence, every object of thought and experience, as well as the relationship between individual, relative subjects...” (source: link txt)