Reading the Cosmos:

Nature, Science, and Wisdom

Edited by Giuseppe Butera

Book Overview

Reading the Cosmos continues and extends Jacques Maritain's spirited defense of natural philosophy as indispensable for an adequate account of the natural world. Drawing inspiration from such seminal works as Philosophy of Nature and Science and Wisdom, the essays in this volume span a wide range of issues of perennial interest to theologians, philosophers, and scientists: from the philosophy of science to the limits of scientific enquiry; from the laws of nature to natural law; from animal intelligence to intelligent design. Taken together, they constitute an engaging argument for the intelligibility of the natural world and the human intellect's ability to discern transcendent realities through its reading of the cosmos.

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Contents

  • Giuseppe Butera, “Introduction: The Philosophy of Nature is the Beginning of Wisdom”

  1. Michael Augros, “The Disparity of Disagreement in Science and Philosophy”

  2. Jennifer Rosato, “Holism and Realism: A Look at Maritain's Distinction Between Science and the Philosophy of Nature”

  3. Matthew S. Pugh, “Maritain, Instrumentalism, and the Philosophy of Experimental Science”

  4. Anthony Rizzi, “The Science Before Science: The Grounding and Integration of the Modern Mind and its Science”

  5. Gregory J. Kerr, “Antony Flew and Intelligent Design”

  6. James G. Hanink, “Does the Philosophy of Nature Need the Intuition of Being? If So, What Is It?”

  7. Travis Dunisday, “Have the Laws of Nature Been Eliminated?”

  8. Andrew Jaspers, “Four-Dimensional Objects and the Philosophy of Nature: Maritain and Simon's Timely Contributions to Anglo-Analytic Metaphysics”

  9. Nikolaj Zunic, “Maritain's Rehabilitation of the Philosophy of Human Nature”

  10. Marie I. George, “Humans and Apes: On Whether Language Usage, Knowledge of Others' Beliefs, and Knowledge of Others' Emotions Indicate That They Differ When It Comes to Rationality”

  11. John G. Trapani, Jr., “New Jeans, Blue Jeans, and Human Beings: Jacques Maritain and the Possibility of Freedom”

  12. Peter Karl Koritansky, “Natural Inclination as the Basis for Natural Law”

  13. Elinor Gardner, O.P., “Nature and Rights: The Meaning of a Universal Agreement on Human Rights”

  14. Mario Ramos-Reyes, “Catholic Positivism or Positivist Catholic? Why Did Catholics Follow Maurras?”

  15. John J. Conley, S.J., “Imitating Nature: Maritain's Reservations Concerning Artistic Mimesis”

  • Index of Names

  • Contributors