Philosophy of physics and philosophy of religion

1. Entity type Lemma
2. Original titleΦιλοσοφία τῆς φυσικῆς καὶ φιλοσοφία τῆς θρησκείας
3. Language term Greek, Modern (1453-)
4. lemma author Koutalis, Vangelis
5. lemma category Modes of interaction > Integration - Orthodox theological tradition and practice > Patristic studies - Orthodox theological tradition and practice > Premodern _modern_ postmodern - Concepts of knowledge and modes of reasoning > Sources of knowledge (empiricism/rationalism) - Concepts of knowledge and modes of reasoning > Philosophy of science/epistemology - Ecology and the environment - Scientific theories and disciplines > Classical physics - Scientific theories and disciplines > Modern physics :QM - Scientific theories and disciplines > Modern physics: Relativity
6. Publication date 26-02-2017
7. lemma work Begzos, Marios [Author]. Philosophy of physics and philosophy of religion
8. lemma manifestations Διακονία: Ἀφιέρωμα στὴ μνήμη Βασιλείου Στογιάννου – Ἐπιστημονική Ἐπετηρίδα Θεολογικῆς Σχολῆς Πανεπιστημίου Θεσσαλονίκης - Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 1988. - Δοκίμια φιλοσοφίας τῆς θρησκείας - Athens: Grigoris Publications, 1988.
9. Keywords Modern physics - quantum mechanics - relativity theory - nuclear physics - ontology - cosmology - religion and ecology - intersubjectivity - Orthodox doctrine of the Uncreated and the Created (Άκτιστο-Κτιστό) - referentiality - Personalism - eschatology
10. Citations
    1. <p>Begzos, M. [Μπέγζος, Μ.] (1988). Φιλοσοφία τῆς φυσικῆς καὶ φιλοσοφία τῆς θρησκείας. In <em>Διακονία: Ἀφιέρωμα στὴ μνήμη Βασιλείου Στογιάννου – Ἐπιστημονική Ἐπετηρίδα Θεολογικῆς Σχολῆς Πανεπιστημίου Θεσσαλονίκης</em> (pp. 585-603). Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki</p>
    2. <p>Begzos, M. [Μπέγζος, Μ.] (1988). Φιλοσοφία τῆς φυσικῆς καὶ φιλοσοφία τῆς θρησκείας. In Begzos, M. [Μπέγζος, Μ.], <em>Δοκίμια φιλοσοφίας τῆς θρησκείας</em> (pp. 133-158). Athens: Grigoris Publications.</p>
11. Lemma body

    1. In this article a series of transformations in the modern worldview, triggered by the theoretical developments in physics during the 20th century, are examined in relation to present-day theology and philosophy of religion. The author deliberately places chief emphasis on the philosophical dimension, since he is of the opinion that philosophy may serve as a mediating term which renders possible the mutual translation between the otherwise incompatible languages of science and religion.

       Five major shifts are listed and briefly commented on:

       1) The transition in cosmology from mechanics to ecology, under the impact of the theory of relativity, quantum mechanics and nuclear physics. Modern physics fostered a new, dialectical understanding of the world, which was no longer viewed as a machine, but as a dialectical synthesis of opposite elements, an organism or a living space, an οίκος (the Greek word for home).

       2) The transition in ontology from dualism to dialectics. By conceptually linking time and space, matter and energy, wave and body, the observer and the observed, modern physics challenged both Cartesian dualism (the separation of res cogitans from res extensa) and Newtonian mechanicism. In the new philosophy of physics, the ontological priorities have switched from individuality to referentiality, from necessity to possibility, and from spatiality to temporality.

       3) The transition in gnoseology from a possessive conception to a participative one. Classical physics equated truth with objectivity, created a strong belief in determinism, and established rationalism as a strict framework of intellectual discipline. Modern physics, instead, associated truth with intersubjectivity, substituted causality for determinism, and set rational thinking apart from rationalism. The gnoseology corresponding to modern physics can be seen as apophatic, whereas that which corresponded to classical physics was affirmative.

       4) The transition in axiology from a functionalist approach to a personalist perspective. The world, as represented in modern physics, in no longer an object, an acquisition (Κτήση), but a subject in which we participate, a creation (Κτίση). The moral implications of this transformation might be reduced to three equations: existence equals to co-existence, survival equals to cohabitation, and Logos equals to dialogue.

       5) The transition in theology from apologetics to eschatology. The emergence of an eschatological theological discourse, wherein history is posited as the horizon of Christian faith, signalizes the scientific revolution that Christian theology actually underwent in 20th century. The revolutionized philosophy of religion seems to be well-tuned to the revolutionized philosophy of physics: in both sides, fission gives its place to relation, need to love, nature to history, possession to participation, acquisition to creation.

       According to Begzos, this profoundly changed landscape offers rich possibilities of dialogue between science and religion. The most promising sign of our times is the encounter of contemporary avant-garde with tradition.