Weaving the World: Simone Weil on Science, Mathematics, and Love by Vance G. Morgan

by Vance G. Morgan

Weaving the World uses Simone Weil’s philosophy of science and mathematics as an introduction to the thought of one of the most powerful philosophical and theological minds of the twentieth century. Weil held that, for the ancient Greeks, the ultimate purpose of science and mathematics was the knowledge and love of the divine. Her creative assimilation of this vision led her to a conception of science and mathematics that connects the human person with not only the physical world but also the spiritual and aesthetic aspects of human existence. Vance G. Morgan investigates Weil’s earliest texts on science, in which she lays the foundation for a conception of science rooted in basic human concerns and activities. He then tracks Weil’s analysis of the development of science, particularly of the mathematics and science of the ancient Greeks. He especially explores Weil's interpretation of the Pythagoreans and their mathematical discoveries, giving special attention to the mathematical foundations of musical harmonies. Morgan pays particular attention to Weil’s analysis of Greek geometry, which she believed reveals the importance of mediation between incommensurates in both geometry and the larger scope of human existence. Morgan’s study not only challenges the metaphysical and spiritual poverty of contemporary scientific paradigms, but also sketches an outline of an alternative metaphysical foundation for mathematics and science that, according to Weil, opens the door to a reinvigorated dialogue between science, philosophy, art, and religion.

Genres: Philosophy, Science

Paperback Bunko

First published September 20, 2005

Reviews

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vance Morgan does an excellent job with a formidable task. His cohesive and elegant analysis of Weil's thought is compilation but also philosophy, as all good histories of philosophy should be.

Weil's thought gripped me the first 5/6 of the book, but the 6th and final chapter made vivid the old cold sadness which she allowed to grip her unto death. This is why I don't necessarily recommend Weil for people considering converting - her thought absolutely bears engaging; it is insightful, touching, and beautiful, but she did not allow herself to live long enough to come into humble and full communion with a God with a face.

I encountered her at 19 and she made pertinent arguments for being a Christian-who-is-not-Christian. When one does receive the faith, after all the idealism has passed, well - what lost time. And the final chapter reveals what she grappled with, loved, but was also imprisoned by of her own assent. One does love the Greeks and geometry, one must thank the heavens for the insights she shared, but would she had lived long enough to see faith is not a superhero action despite force. It is not all the glamor of existentialism, and within the quiet hearts of millions faith illuminates the face in ways that are only understood as Mystery.

[Kathleen Quaintance · Rating 4 out of 5]

i mostly read this as a selection of Weil quotations on science, math and love as opposed to a book in itself; but i feel that this was an entirely worthwhile thing to do