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Uses modern mathematical metaphors to better understand religion and philosophy.
The ancient Greeks held that "number rules the universe" and that "God ever geometrizes." Here author Sarah Voss explores the historical connection between mathematics and religion in her provocative book, What Number Is God? Citing many examples, she shows that humankind has long used mathematics metaphorically to understand and make sense of life's most fundamental questions.
As Voss shows, contemporary society also uses metaphors of mathematics to investigate such issues, though in a fashion that is frequently overlooked or denied. The intentional use of contemporary mathematical ideas as metaphors for metaphysical notions can have a dramatic impact on modern society, in part by providing new symbols to replace old religious language which has lost its power to excite.
"Voss's work is probing, suggestive, easy to read. She's done masterful work of bringing together disparate fields—a nice blend of science, philosophy, and religion. It shows extremely good use of a wide-range of significant sources. Original. Sincere." — Peter A. Pav, Eckerd College
"The focus on science and religion alone would place this book into an arena of perennially significant works. The focus on mathematics, so widely misunderstood by both the initiated and the uninitiated, makes it all the more significant. The author also addresses the problem of metaphor in science, a topic of great concern in both literary theory circles and in the field of science and technology studies." — Sal Restivo, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
List of Figures
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1 Meta-View
Bridges
Metamathematics
Metaphysics
Metaphor
Bridgework
Chapter 2 Image-ination in Mathematics and Religion
Blurred Boundaries
A Continuum
Continuums
Literal vs. Metaphorical
Kaleidoscope
Mathematics and Metaphorical Language
Chapter 3 Holy Mathematics
Meta-4's
Number Symbolism
Geometry
Computers and Chaos
Holographs/Holygraphs
Chapter 4 God the Definite Integral and Cantorian Religion
Towards Two Metaphors
The One and The Many
God the Definite Integral
Towards a Structure of Judgement
Meta-Stepping
Towards a Cantorian Religion
A Strange Metaphor
Cantoring
Religion of All Religions
Metaphor Muddles
Summation
Afterword
Appendix A. Understandings of Sign, Symbol, Metaphor,and Model in Religion and Mathematics: Summary of an Empirical Study
Notes
Reference List
Index