Mathematics and Mysticism,Name Worshipping,Then and Now

The author's purpose is to put together three different mystical approaches to mathematics which are located in different contexts and periods of recent times but can be compared and may enrich one another: (1) the name-worshipping movement in the Russia of the beginning of the twentieth century, which gave birth to the famous Moscow School of Mathematics; (2) the deep mystical approach to mathematics of the important French philosopher Simone Weil; and (3) the recent autobiographical thoughts of the very important French mathematician Alexander Grothendieck. All three instances give a central role to the act of naming, and the author suggests further theological and mathematical investigations of the naming process.