Philosophy of Nature and Science
Can modern scientific discovery exist alongside deep philosophical truth? Many twentieth-century thinkers dismissed contemporary science, but Jacques Maritain recognized the necessity of connecting these domains. Jason West explores Maritain’s philosophy of nature, his three degrees of abstraction, and his reconciliation of Thomism with evolutionary theory, enriching our understanding of the physical world with rigorous faith.
Experience the Episode
Presented by Jacques Maritain Center
Can modern scientific discovery exist alongside deep philosophical truth? Many twentieth-century thinkers dismissed contemporary science, but Jacques Maritain recognized the necessity of connecting these domains. In Chapter Three, Jason West explores Maritain’s philosophy of nature, his three degrees of abstraction, and his reconciliation of Thomism with evolutionary theory, enriching our understanding of the physical world with rigorous faith.
RECORDINGS TO COME!
MoreQuestions for Discussion
Explore the questions about Jacques Maritain’s life and philosophical method below on your own, or together with others.
- What are the different senses of ‘science’? Why is it philosophically important to distinguish these?
- What are the three degrees of abstraction? Why is this central to Maritain’s view of knowledge?
- How does his approach to physics both align with and diverge from the logical positivism of the time? Is his approach philosophically viable?
- Thomistic philosophy generally holds that more perfect cannot come from the less perfect. The example of evolution, in which more complete and complex forms of life emerge from simpler ones, seems to run counter to this Thomistic principle. Can Maritain reconcile evolution with Thomist philosophy?