Description
Book SynopsisThis book is an important new study on the thought of the late Professor Ian Graeme Barbour (19232013). Barbour was a prominent American theologian and physicist who served for many years on the faculty of Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota, USA. His highly significant research on the relationship between theology and science led to an invitation to deliver the esteemed Gifford Lectures in Scotland (19891991) and won him the prestigious Templeton Prize in 1999. In this monograph, Joseph R. Laracy analyzes Ian Barbour's distinctive approach to the relationship between theology and science, largely unexplored in the Catholic tradition, according to fundamental theological criteria. He investigates the possibility for Barbour's epistemic, metaphysical, and theological principles to enrich the dialogue and integration (to use Barbour's terms) of the Catholic doctrine of creation with the natural sciences. Throughout the monograph, substantial reference is made to Saint Thomas Aquin
Trade Review
“Ian Barbour was an innovative and decorated physicist, at the forefront of thinkers examining the relationship between science and religion. This compelling book offers a comprehensive analysis of Barbour’s work, subjecting it to appreciative yet searching criticism. In Laracy, Barbour has found a deeply knowledgeable and generously responsive dialogue partner whose work creatively advances the crucial rapport between science and theology.”—Monsignor Thomas G. Guarino, STD, Professor of Systematic Theology, Seton Hall University
“Joseph Laracy has made a major contribution to interaction of theology and science by a thorough explication and critique of Ian Barbour’s critical realism. By any measure, Barbour’s thought deserves close attention and here Laracy teases out many insights which can assist in deepening our understanding of the doctrine of creation in the Catholic tradition. Anyone who engages this volume will come away better informed and deeply grateful for Laracy’s work.”—Kenneth J. Howell, PhD, Director Emeritus, The John Henry Cardinal Newman Institute of Catholic Thought, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Senior Fellow, St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology
“In this wonderfully readable and informative book, Father Laracy has given us a very careful, perceptive, and learned study and critique of the philosophy and theology of Ian Barbour, whose writings on the relation of science and religion have had enormous influence. Father Laracy shows that there is much of value in Barbour’s thought, but also much that is problematic from the point of view of fundamental Catholic beliefs.”—Stephen M. Barr, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Physics, University of Delaware and President, The Society of Catholic Scientists
“Father Joseph Laracy has blossomed into a ‘multi-faceted’ scholar. Coming from a rich background in engineering and technology, he has used his scientific tools to elucidate theological thought. The reader will enjoy Father Laracy’s style of writing.”—Father Gabriel B. Costa, PhD, Professor of Mathematics, United States Military Academy at West Point and Seton Hall University
Table of Contents
Foreword – Acknowledgments – List of Abbreviations – Ian Barbour: Life and Works – Barbour’s Fundamental Principles: Theological Presuppositions, Epistemology, and Met–aphysics Theology and Science: Similarities and Differences According to Barbour – A Catholic Critique for the Doctrine of Creation – Toward Dialogue and Integration – Index.
