Ann Vandenbroeck

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Philosophical Geometry

Ancient Egyptians and Greeks (up to Euclid) saw in plane geometry much more than land-surveying. For the Greeks, Gaia or Ge (from which our word “geometry” derives) was a universe rather than a planet. Man was the measure of the cosmos and geometry was the expression of this faculty, the discipline through which one studied the unity of cosmic necessity and human thought. For this reason tradition has it that Plato inscribed on the gates of his Academy: “Only geometers enter here.” This aspect of the discipline was lost in modern times until studies such as those of Matila Ghyka rekindled an interest that culminated in R. A. Schwaller de Lubicz’s Pythagorean synthesis. Since it was essentially a rediscovery of unselfconscious modes of thinking, this synthesis did not pose the problem of foundations. Philosophical Geometry originated in the author’s perception of this problem while working with de Lubicz in Grasse, France, in 1960-61. Written in 1972, Philosophical Geometry was conceived as a textbook and took shape in a teaching situation, individual elaboration of theory being the declared aim. Defined as “the activity of establishing a necessary conduct for mind through a set of signs denoting a necessary conduct of facts,” Philosophical Geometry approaches a universal theme to which the existence of every human being contributes a chapter. Philosophical Geometry is, and has been, an avenue toward inscription of such fundamental experience.