Proclus on the Meaning of Mathesis

I have been drawing great inspiration for my work from Proclus' Commentary on the First Book of Euclid's Elements.  The text is far more than a commentary on Euclid, since it includes two prefatory essays on the philosophy of general mathematics and the philosophy of geometry.  This is really the origin of what we today call the philosophy of mathematics, and Proclus, in his usual systematic fashion, herein establishes mathematics within the metaphysical hierarchy established in his other Neoplatonic works such as the Elements of Theology, which was by no coincidence written after the style of Euclid's Elements.  The commentary portion includes lengthy discussions of the metaphysical aspects to Euclid's definitions.  Learning all of this really brings the Euclid text to life, as we begin to see mathematical objects as real beings.  Geometric investigation then becomes an exploration of this ontological universe; the theorems established in geometrical discourse such as was stimulated by the Elements becomes a map of this higher world.

Proclus

 
At the end of the first essay on general mathematics, Proclus has a whole paragraph on the meaning of mathesis as I intend it to be used here.  The greek word is μαθησις and is translated by Morrow as "learning".  I would prefer it have been left untranslated since there is really no English equivalent and Proclus gives a thorough definition of what it is.  Here is what he says:

This, then, is what learning (mathesis) is, recollection of the eternal ideas of the soul; and this is why the study that especially brings us the recollection of these ideas is called the science concerned with learning (mathematike).  Its name thus makes clear what sort of function this science performs.  It arouses our innate knowledge, awakens our intellect, purges our understanding, brings to light the concepts that belong essentially to us, takes away the forgetfulness and ignorance that we have from birth, set us free from the bonds of unreason; and all this by the favor of the god who is truly the patron of this science, who brings our intellectual endowments to light, fills everything with divine reason, moves our souls towards Nous, awakens us as it were from our heavy slumber, through our searching turns us back upon ourselves, through our birthpangs perfects us, and through the discovery of pure Nous leads us to the blessed life.  And so, dedicating this composition to him, we proceed to delineate the theory of the science of mathematics.

Pay particular attention to this last line: "dedicating this composition to him".  Proclus is saying that his Commentary was intended as a hymn to the god of mathematics.   This god is Hermes.  This is consistent with Proclus' theurgy and shows how he sees the study of geometry as a theurgical and soteriological endeavor.  But we have lost this completely from the mathematics of today, and my purpose with all of my blogs and Youtube channel is to bring this back to life.

Books mentioned in this post: