Mathematics and friendship : Pavel Florensky’s interdisciplinary thought

Abstract

Dear colleagues, friends, and guests. First, I want to thank each and every one of you for coming. A word of thanks most especially to Rev. Dr Martin Micallef, Rev. Dr Jonathan Farrugia, the Editorial and Administrative Boards of Melita Theologica, as well as Rev. Dr John Berry and Rev. Dr Kevin Schembri for making tonight’s event possible. It is truly a humbling experience for me to be able to share with you the passion I find in Florensky’s life and thought. Let me start by shedding some light on the event that gave rise to the latest publication of Melita Theologica which we are launching tonight. Three years ago, Rev. Dr Charlò Camilleri and I came up with the idea of celebrating the eightieth anniversary of Florensky’s tragic death by means of an interdisciplinary and inter-Faculty Colloquium. The idea was met with great support, both from the Department of Moral Theology as well as the Faculty Board. The idea was not only to introduce Florensky to our academic colleagues and students at the Faculty, but also to continue casting out the net of interdisciplinarity and dialogue to other Faculties of the University. I felt that the best way to do so was to revolve the entire Colloquium around the category that best sums up Florensky’s entire life-project, namely, dialogue and integrity. [excerpt]