Description
Book SynopsisMathematics and Religion: Our Languages of Sign and Symbol is the sixth title published in the Templeton Science and Religion Series, in which scientists from a wide range of fields distill their experience and knowledge into brief tours of their respective specialties. In this volume, Javier Leach, a mathematician and Jesuit priest, leads a fascinating study of the historical development of mathematical language and its influence on the evolution of metaphysical and theological languages.
Leach traces three historical moments of change in this evolution: the introduction of the deductive method in Greece, the use of mathematics as a language of science in modern times, and the formalization of mathematical languages in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. As he unfolds this fascinating history, Leach notes the striking differences and interrelations between the two languages of science and religion. Until now there has been little reflection on these similarities and differences, or about how both languages can complement and enrich each other.
Table of ContentsPreface vii
Chapter 1: Mathematics and Natural Sciences 3Chapter 2: Metaphysical Language 16Chapter 3: Origins of Mathematics 35Chapter 4: Euclid and Beyond 44Chapter 5: Dawn of Science 55Chapter 6: Mathematics Formalized 67Chapter 7: Propositional Logic 93Chapter 8: Language and Meaning 106Chapter 9: Science, Language, and Religion 120Appendix 1: Syntax of Propositional Logic 133Appendix 2: Semantics of Propositional Logic 136Appendix 3: Syntax of First-Order Logic 139Appendix 4: Semantics of First-Order Logic 143Appendix 5: Numerical Systems:Their Role in First-Order Logic 147
