| − | A devout Catholic, Fermat held a judicial office within the Church, and served as ''parlementaire'' in Toulouse. He was certainly acquainted with the writings of [[Thomas Aquinas]] and the evidence of his penetrating intellect. It is entirely possible that the perceived impossibility of a proof of the theorem Fermat proposed was in itself a clear demonstration of the realization of the possibility that what is famously called "Fermat's Last Theorem" was a transcendental proof of the limitations of human intellect and of the limitations of mathematical and scientific methods in the presence of the wisdom and intelligence of the one transcendent [[God]] comprehending of all things subsumed under the Omniscient and Omnipotent Divine Rule. It is indirectly a remarkable proof that man is not infinitely capable ultimately of finally understanding all things, and is not God. Like the [[Christian mysteries]], Fermat's Last Theorem is above the intellect, but not opposed to it. Pierre de Fermat's marginal notation may be an informal expression of his personal insight to the marvelous wonder of this truth. | + | A devout Catholic, Fermat held a judicial office within the Church, and served as ''parlementaire'' in Toulouse. He was certainly acquainted with the writings of [[Thomas Aquinas]] and the evidence of his penetrating intellect. It is entirely possible that the perceived impossibility of a proof of the theorem Fermat proposed was in itself a clear demonstration of the realization of the possibility that what is famously called "Fermat's Last Theorem" was a transcendental proof of the limitations of human intellect and of the limitations of mathematical and scientific methods in the presence of the wisdom and intelligence of the one transcendent [[God]] comprehending of all things subsumed under the Omniscient and Omnipotent Divine Rule. It is indirectly a remarkable proof that man is not infinitely capable ultimately of finally understanding all things, and is not God. Like the [[Christian mysteries]], Fermat's Last Theorem is above the intellect, but not opposed to it.<ref>[http://platonic-philosophy.org/files/Perl%20-%20The%20Good%20of%20the%20Intellect.pdf The Good of the Intellect, Eric D. Perl (platonic-philosophy.org)] pdf. "For Plotinus...the encounter with the Good demands a reaching beyond intellect, but is in no way opposed to or merely alongside intellect as an alternative to it."</ref> Pierre de Fermat's marginal notation may be an informal expression of his personal insight to the marvelous wonder of this transcendent truth. |