Description
Book SynopsisActuality and potentiality, substantial form and prime matter, efficient causality and teleology are among the fundamental concepts of Aristotelian philosophy of nature. Aristotle’s Revenge argues that these concepts are not only compatible with modern science, but are implicitly presupposed by modern science.
Among the many topics covered are:
- The metaphysical presuppositions of scientific method.
- The status of scientific realism
- The metaphysics of space and time.
- The metaphysics of quantum mechanics.
- Reductionism in chemistry and biology.
- The metaphysics of evolution.
- Neuroscientific reductionism.
The book interacts heavily with the literature on these issues in contemporary analytic metaphysics and philosophy of science, so as to bring contemporary philosophy and science into dialogue with the Aristotelian tradition.
Trade ReviewWith characteristic clarity and panache, Feser argues that the principles of Aristotelian and Thomistic philosophy, especially metaphysics and the philosophy of nature, are not challenged by developments in modern and contemporary science. Indeed, Feser thinks that a proper understanding of the natural sciences discloses the enduring value of these very principles. The book offers an excellent analysis of many of the key philosophical questions that lie at the heart of discourse about the implications of the physical and biological sciences. It is a very important resource for philosophers and scientists."
Dr. William E. Carroll, Aquinas Institute, Blackfriars, University of Oxford“Scientists seek explanations for why nature is the way that it is. In this engaging and thought-provoking book, Ed Feser provides explanations both for why contemporary science is the way that it is and for why modern scientists think in the way that we do. It would be a pity if scientists did not read this book. It would help them realize that their often unacknowledged philosophical assumptions and idiosyncrasies actually reveal that they are closet Aristotelians at heart.”
Rev. Nicanor Pier Giorgio Austriaco, O.P., Ph.D., S.T.D., Professor of Biology and of Theology at Providence College, and Director, ThomisticEvolution.orgTable of Contents
- Preface.
- 1. Two philosophies of nature.
- 2. The scientist and scientific method.
- 3. Science and reality.
- 4. Space, time, and motion.
- 5. The philosophy of matter.
- 6. Animate nature.
