Brown University

A lecture by Fr. Mariusz Tabaczek, O.P. (Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas)

Thursday, May 2nd

6:00 PM

MacMillan 117

This lecture is free and open to the public.

Description:

Ever since it was proposed by Charles Darwin, the theory of biological evolution has raised numerous questions concerning its metaphysical presuppositions and both philosophical and theological repercussions. From the question about the reality and definition of species and metaphysics of species transition, through the complexities and controversies around applying evolutionary principles in social Darwinism, sociobiology, and evolutionary psychology, to the question about teleology and divine action in the emergence of new species. Approaching this conversation from the Aristotelian-Thomistic point of view, Fr. Tabaczek will address (1) the question about the place and role of teleology (goal-directedness) in the processes leading to the emergence of new species, and (2) Aquinas's commentary on the work of the six days in Genesis - as a possible response to the challenge of interpreting Bible in the age of evolution.

About the Speaker:

Mariusz Tabaczek, O.P., is a friar preacher, professor of theology, and member of the Thomistic Institute at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome. He is the author of Theistic Evolution: A Contemporary Aristotelian-Thomistic Perspective (2023). His other works include Emergence: Towards A New Metaphysics and Philosophy of Science (2019), and Divine Action and Emergence: An Alternative to Panentheism (2021).