Bernie Lewin, a founding director of the Platonic Academy of Melbourne, will present a lecture entitled The revival of Greek Wisdom in the Renaissance, on Thursday 14 July, at 7 pm, at the Greek Centre, as part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars offered by the Greek Community of Melbourne.

The more science advances, the more mathematical it becomes. If it doesn’t add up, then it doesn’t make sense. The origins of this modern approach to science trace back to the mathematical mysticism that emerged in Greece during the 5th century BC. Soon after that, Plato established his Academy. Mathematical philosophy, science, and technology then flourished for almost a millennium before it was lost to the West for another 1000 years.

The story of the rebirth of Greek science in the 15th century is essential to the origin myth of the West. But it is not always recognised that this revival was driven by a renaissance of this ancient mathematical mysticism. Science and mystical religion are often thought diametrically opposed. But for these ancients, the one was only an extension of the other. And so too in the Renaissance.

This is why the losing battle against the Ottomans in the East was so critical to the emergence of modern science in the West. Envoys attempting to sure-up Western support carried westward a revival of this ancient mysticism. It was this revived Platonic mathematical mysticism – not atomism, nor materialism, nor empiricism – that drove the key developments towards what we now recognise as modern science.

Bernie Lewin is a founding director of the Platonic Academy of Melbourne. He has published widely in the history of science, including on the Platonic foundations of mathematics. Enthusiastic Mathematics: Reviving Mystical Emanationism in Modern Science is a historical introduction to Platonic science published by the Academy in 2018. He has a bachelor’s degree in social science (La Trobe University), and a graduate diploma in information management (RMIT).

When: Thu 14th July 2022, 7 pm
Where: The Greek Centre, Mezzanine Level, 168 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
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