Explain in gk chesterton way: This is a particularly fruitful starting point for examining the relationship between Aristotle, Aquinas, modern nominalism, and the eventual mathematization of nature:The great adventure of Western thought may be told as the story of a shrinking world. Aristotle discovered that the mind could kneel before reality and learn its nature. Aquinas crowned that discovery by showing that being itself was richer than counting, for a thing has form, purpose, and existence before anyone calculates it. But nominalism loosened the marriage between words and reality, until names became labels and certainty sought refuge in mathematics. What began as the servant of nature quietly inherited the throne of nature.
In Chesterton's style, the point becomes less like an academic thesis and more like a paradox about a man who mistakes his ruler for the world.
Aristotle taught us that a tree is not a triangle, though it has triangles hidden in its branches. St. Thomas agreed, adding that God made the tree before the geometer measured it. Then came the nominalist, who began to suspect that "tree" was only a convenient noise, while numbers remained wonderfully obedient. At last arrived the modern man, who became so enchanted with his measuring stick that he imagined the forest had been planted merely to justify inches.
The great adventure of Western thought may be told as the story of a shrinking world. Aristotle discovered that the mind could kneel before reality and learn its nature. Aquinas crowned that discovery by showing that being itself was richer than counting, for a thing has form, purpose, and existence before anyone calculates it. But nominalism loosened the marriage between words and reality, until names became labels and certainty sought refuge in mathematics. What began as the servant of nature quietly inherited the throne of nature.
The tragedy is not that mathematics became too strong, but that it became lonely. A man who believes the stars are only equations will eventually believe his own soul is only arithmetic. The irony is delicious: the one creature capable of contemplating eternity ends by congratulating himself for inventing a very accurate tape measure.
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