Book Introduction: The Archetype of the Number and its Reflections in Contemporary Cosmology

Title:          The Archetype of the Number and its Reflections in Contemporary Cosmology
Subtitle:     Psychophysical Rhythmic Configurations
Author:      Alain Negre
Publisher: Chiron Publications

Earlier this month, author Alain Negre emailed me a PDF version of his soon to be released book, and suggested that I mention it on this blog. I feel happy to do so. However, I was only able to quickly browse through the PDF in the last two days. The subject matter of the book is such that writing a review on it after just skimming through it would be unfair to the author. So, this post will serve more as an introduction to the work than as a review, though I do sprinkle my comments where appropriate.

Although the subject has been addressed in the past (for instance, The Tao of Physics by Fritjof Capra), this book is different in substance and approach. It takes a transdisciplinary approach to examine the relationship of science to spirituality, using the archetype of number. It builds on the work of Jung, physicist Pauli and von Franz, author of “Number and Time.” The premise is the fact that numbers have both quantitative and qualitative aspects, that they are basic archetypes i.e. empty structures of the (Jungian) unconscious extended in all dimensions of space and time.

Other topics like emergence and “dialectical physics” are also addressed. However, the author goes into some form of speculation when, for example, he applies Heraclitean “enantiodromia” (equivalent to the karmic law of action and reaction) to the evolutive universe.

The difference between science and symbols is clearly stated as well as an overview of a distinction between different levels of reality, indexed on the four logical possibilities of the Dharmic tradition of Indian logic, the Catuṣkoṭi (Tetralemma in Greek). These distinctions appear necessary in order to avoid confusion between science and the esoteric tradition such as alchemy, astrology, numerology.

What little I read seemed like quite decent work to me. The effort the author has put in the work shines through the pages. Of course, this is not a light-reading material (the topics under discussion do not allow it to be) and qualifies for more than just one serious reading. People with a keen interest in exploring the parallels and distinctions between science and spirituality may certainly take something home from this work, although I wouldn’t really call it an introductory level material (not sure if the author meant it to be).


References:

http://chironpublications.com/shop/archetype-number-reflections-contemporary-cosmology/