Natural Philosophy, Modern Science and Saint Thomas Aquinas by Donald Boland

Natural Philosophy, Modern Science and Saint Thomas Aquinas by Donald Boland

Natural Philosophy, Modern Science and Saint Thomas Aquinas

by Dr. Donald G. Boland

This book is an attempt to rescue the reputations of Aristotle and Aquinas in the area of science and philosophy where they are subject to most criticism and even ridicule in modern times following the scientific revolution, namely, in Physics specially and Science generally.

It is necessary to note that objection to, and rejection of, their thought in this regard is not confined to scientists and philosophers of a non-religious or anti-religious cast of mind, but is also shared, if reluctantly, by those who would regard themselves as generally admirers of Aristotle as a theist philosopher, and even those who would declare themselves disciples of Aquinas in all other respects, going by the name of Thomists.

Most, including Thomists, would see the ancient and medieval notions of science, ascribed to Aristotle and Aquinas in this precise regard, as not able to be reconciled at all with modern thought, so that we might as well get used to the idea that the pre-modern notions of physics and science were seriously mistaken.

However, there are some Thomists, such as Maritain, who have endeavoured to argue for a solution to the apparent contradiction. The author, whilst prepared to defend the truth of Aristotle’s and Aquinas’ fundamental position and indeed to criticise the modern disdain for it, nonetheless disagrees also with the efforts of the Thomists to date to do the same.

Readers on both sides of the debate will be surprised to discover compatibility with the author’s arguments.

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OTHER TITLES BY DONALD G. BOLAND

  1. Logic, Science, and St. Thomas Aquinas | En Route Books and Media
  2. Natural Philosophy, Modern Science and Saint Thomas Aquinas | En Route Books and Media
  3. Science, Psychology and Saint Thomas Aquinas by Donald G. Boland | En Route Books and Media
  4. Ethics Today and Saint Thomas Aquinas | En Route Books and Media
  5. Natural Law – Australian Style | En Route Books and Media
  6. Political Science and Saint Thomas Aquinas | En Route Books and Media
  7. Economic Science and St. Thomas Aquinas: On Justice in the Distribution and Exchange of Wealth | En Route Books and Media
  8. The Social Encyclicals and Saint Thomas Aquinas | En Route Books and Media
  9. Metaphysics, Truth and St. Thomas Aquinas | En Route Books and Media
  10. Metaphysics/Ontology and St. Thomas Aquinas (Twenty Readings in Wisdom Forsaken) | En Route Books and Media
  11. Thomas of the Creator | En Route Books and Media
  12. The Thomist Tradition: Avoiding Scylla and Charybdis | En Route Books and Media

TESTIMONIALS

“The first part of this book is devoted to the corpus of works of Aristotle on natural science (natural philosophy) and the extensive commentaries of St. Thomas Aquinas. It exposes and discusses the right ordering and principles or causes of the natural sciences in their completeness as handed down by these two great masters of natural philosophy. From that perspective alone Dr. Boland’s book is a much needed contribution to philosophical and scientific discourse in both secular and Catholic academic circles of our age. However, the book does not end in the mists of time with a medieval friar better known for sacred theology. The abundant light shining from the Common Doctor and The Philosopher in the first part of the book serves, in the capable hands of Dr. Boland, to illuminate with clarity and precision the true  nature of modern science from its inception in the seventeenth century until the present time. Despite the material benefits this limited and mathematically formal science has accrued to mankind, the philosophical errors therein are serious and extensive. These errors, especially the fundamental scepticism of modern philosophers of science such as Sir Karl Popper, are exposed and roundly refuted in the second part of the book. There is however, another bonus in store, which for modern day Thomists will be something of a shock. I speak here of the serious attempts well known and greatly admired Thomists such as Maritain, Charles De Koninck MSRC and William Wallace OP have made to engage with modern scientific theories from a Thomistic perspective, but in doing so, as Dr. Boland so astutely points up by applying the principles exposed in the first part of the book, they have departed from St. Thomas in a fundamental way. Overall, this book is an excellent foundation for the right understanding of the philosophy of nature in its entirety and for the identification of the errors of modern theories of science. Not only does it deserve a wide readership amongst teachers and students of philosophy, science and technology, but also amongst teachers and students of ethics, politics and theology. I give it my unreserved recommendation.”  — Frank Calneggia, author of Assertions and Refutations

​ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Donald G Boland Ll. B. (Sydney), Ph. D. (Angelicum) is a founding member of the Centre for Catholic Studies Inc. in Sydney Australia and is one of its former Presidents. He practiced for a number of years as a lawyer having a degree in law from the University of Sydney. Over much the same time, having obtained a doctorate in philosophy from the University of St. Thomas in Rome, he has taught philosophy and law in both Catholic and secular educational institutions, such as the University of Technology, Sydney, the University of Newcastle, the Aquinas Academy, the Centre for Thomistic Studies Inc., now operating under the name of the Centre for Catholic Studies Inc., and various Catholic seminaries, such as those of the Marists and the Vincentians. His doctoral thesis was on the concepts of utility and value in economics as found in the works of Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas.

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Logic, Science, and St. Thomas Aquinas by Donald G. Boland

Logic, Science, and St. Thomas Aquinas by Donald G. Boland
VISIT DR. BOLAND'S COLLECTION OF WORKS!

Logic, Science, and St. Thomas Aquinas

by Dr. Donald G. Boland

The primary aim in this book is to contrast the notions of logic in Aristotelian terms, including its use in Metaphysics, with the peculiar sense which it has taken in modern times, tied to a materialist and anti-metaphysical notion of science, not extending beyond the mathematico-empirical consideration of things. In pursuing this aim, Dr. Boland divides this book into two parts, outlining first Aristotle’s treatment and then the modern, with which we can associate what is called the “New Logic” and “New Mathematics”, coming into the forefront of modern thinking in the late nineteenth century.

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TESTIMONIALS

 

“The first part of this book is an excellent exposition and explanation of the foundations of the metaphysical logic of Aristotle by way of the Commentaries of St Thomas Aquinas on Aristotle’s books devoted to Logic and on the De Trinitate of Boethius. This exposition and analysis, long over-due in modern day academia (including Catholic academia) is a most necessary foundation for the right study of Philosophy and for one’s personal growth in the science and art of right reasoning. The right foundation, having been solidly established, leads naturally into the topic of modern logics which occupies the second part of the book. The errors and pitfalls of modern logics (especially the mathematical logic of modern science), and their strictly limited sphere of rightful application, are exposed and discussed with great wisdom. The ethical nightmares and great evils that flow from the modern over-reach of this naturally truncated logic are made obvious for all to see. Dr Boland has taught Logic at university level for the better part of fifty years. This book might be called a condensation of his vast knowledge of the topic he deals with so clearly and astutely. He removes much of the difficulty of this subject by his frequent use of easy-to-understand practical examples. I would go so far as to say that it is the best book on logic that I have read. I wholeheartedly recommend it to teachers and students of philosophy, ethics, theology, science, and politics alike.”   – Frank Calneggia, author of Assertions and Refutations: An Assessment of Dr. Tracey Rowland’s Natural Law: From Neo Thomism to Nuptial Mysticism

​ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Donald G Boland Ll. B. Ph. D. is a founding member of the Centre for Catholic Studies Inc. in Sydney Australia and is one of its former Presidents. He practiced for a number of years as a lawyer having a degree in law from the University of Sydney. Over much the same time, having obtained a doctorate in philosophy from the University of St. Thomas in Rome, he has taught philosophy and law in both Catholic and secular educational institutions, such as the University of Technology, Sydney, the University of Newcastle, the Aquinas Academy, the Centre for Thomistic Studies Inc., now operating under the name of the Centre for Catholic Studies Inc., and various Catholic seminaries, such as those of the Marists and the Vincentians. His doctoral thesis was on the concepts of utility and value in economics as found in the works of Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas.

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Follow the Science: A Catholic Physician’s Contemplations on Faith, Medicine, and the Catholic Church

Follow the Science: A Catholic Physician’s Contemplations on Faith, Medicine, and the Catholic Church

Bishop James D. Conley, Diocese of Lincoln, and Dr. Jere Palazzolo, President, Catholic Healthcare International

Follow the Science: A Catholic Physician’s Contemplations on Faith, Medicine, and the Catholic Church

by Dr. George Mychaskiw II

with forewords by Bishop Joseph E. Strickland and Charles C. Camosy, PhD


Do you ever wonder if the scientific world has lost its compass?

Does it seem like the Catholic Church is increasingly irrelevant in a culture of death and secular self-interest?

Is there no behavior too outrageous, offensive or preposterous enough for a civilized society to protest?

In this book, Dr. George Mychaskiw, a faithful Catholic, pediatric cardiac anesthesiologist takes an unvarnished, direct and unapologetically Catholic look at some of today’s most important bioethical and episcopal issues, including:

  • The common arguments supporting abortion on demand and why they are simply invalid.
  • The irrational and non-scientific basis for gender ideology.
  • The modern slavery of in vitro fertilization and surrogacy.
  • The contemporary genocide against the disabled, elderly and other “inconvenient” people.
  • Perversion of politics and the criminal justice system.
  • The silent and cowardly Catholic Church.

And many more.  This is a call to arms.  A plea and guidebook for taking back the culture of death, restoring respect for life and motherhood, and setting the Church in its place as the standard-bearer for ethical behavior.  Society is in decline and, unless prompt action is taken, it will collapse to a Hobbesian dystopia that is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.

Paperback: $24.95 | Kindle: $9.99

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TESTIMONIALS

 

“The forces of Satan are very clear in their priorities. Yearly, Planned Parenthood receives hundreds of millions of dollars in donations. As ‘sons of light’ (Lk 16,8), we must be ready to make the sacrifices necessary to safeguard and promote human life and the family formed by the union of man and woman in marriage. Is there anything more important than life and the dignity of God’s creation of man, male and female? (Gn 1,27) For us Catholics, the answer is clear.” – Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke

“I believe this book will prove to be useful in a world where medicine, science and the Church are all battered by confusion and compromise that too often wants to deny the truth. The call for people of faith is not to deny the truth but instead to embrace the joys and the challenges it brings to our human journey.” – Bishop Joseph E. Strickland, Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Tyler, Texas, from the foreword

“When you read this book, you will open yourself to the engaging vision of a thinker and practitioner who, unwilling to settle for the already challenging life of a first-rate and very busy clinician, decided to lead the charge in creating—from nothing—a brand new medical school on the border in New Mexico to serve populations who bear the face of Christ in a special way as strangers in our midst. When you read this book, you will open yourself to the engaging vision of a thinker and practitioner who understands the crusade for prenatal justice as the great fight for human and civil rights of our era. When you read this book, you will open yourself to the engaging vision of a thinker and practitioner who understands that a Catholic vision of the good, a Catholic vision of human dignity, and a Catholic vision of what health care is are at the heart of responding to the culture wars of our current moment.” – Charles C. Camosy, PhD, Professor of Medical Humanities at the Creighton University School of Medicine, from the foreword

​ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. George Mychaskiw, is a board-certified, practicing pediatric cardiac anesthesiologist with over 30 years of experience, having completed medical school at the Kansas City College of Osteopathic Medicine and anesthesiology residency and fellowships at the Yale University School of Medicine. Dr. Mychaskiw has an extensive background in health policy and medical education and is a graduate of the AOA’s Health Policy Fellowship. 

As the visionary behind an osteopathic medical school being established in southern New Mexico to address the shortage of physicians in the Southwestern U.S. and Northern Mexico and diversify the physician workforce, Dr. Mychaskiw initiated a compilation of influential leaders to make this vision a reality. In 2013, the Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine (BCOM) was established with Founding Dean & Chief Academic Office Mychaskiw at the helm of the academic arm of the medical school.  In 2016, BCOM’s inaugural class of 162 arrived in Las Cruces, New Mexico to begin their dream of attending medical school.  Today, the Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine is one of the largest producers of Hispanic physicians in the US and one of the most diverse osteopathic medical colleges.

Dr. Mychaskiw and his consulting group have developed 9 other medical schools in the US and he is the Founding President of the proposed Saint Padre Pio Institute for the Relief of Suffering School of Osteopathic Medicine, which will be co-located on the campus of Benedictine College, Atchison, Kansas.  The Saint Pio School will be the first and only medical school in the world adherent to Ex Corde Ecclesiae, traditionally Catholic, and will proudly stand for the life and dignity of every human life, from conception to natural death, as created in the image and likeness of God.

Dr. Mychaskiw remains in active clinical practice and has developed and led major university anesthesiology departments in the United States.  An authority in osteopathic medical education, Dr. Mychaskiw has authored over 100 articles and book chapters, including works on hospital, medical school and operating room management. He has given hundreds of lectures around the world and is an expert on medical and educational administration in the U.S. and developing world.

 

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Science, Psychology and Saint Thomas Aquinas by Donald G. Boland

Science, Psychology and Saint Thomas Aquinas by Donald G. Boland

Science, Psychology and St. Thomas Aquinas

by Dr. Donald G. Boland

An opposition does exist between Aristotle’s psychology and today’s modern psychology, but it is not as clear-cut as most think. This book, grounded in the wisdom of Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas, seeks to resolve what tension there is between the two in regard to understanding the human soul. While modern science retains a place in the study of human psychology, as a partially natural science, or as an empirically and mathematically based science, it does not result in a full or adequate understanding of the psyche of the human being. Donald G. Boland lays out in the chapters of this book how an Aristotelian explanation of psychology provides a holistic approach to a field of study that is in essence spiritual, namely, the human soul.

Paperback: $29.95 | Kindle: $9.99

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Buying from Australia? Get your copy here Amazon.com.au
Buying from India? Get your copy here from Pothi!
eBOOK
BULK ORDERS

OTHER TITLES BY DONALD G. BOLAND

  1. Logic, Science, and St. Thomas Aquinas | En Route Books and Media
  2. Natural Philosophy, Modern Science and Saint Thomas Aquinas | En Route Books and Media
  3. Science, Psychology and Saint Thomas Aquinas by Donald G. Boland | En Route Books and Media
  4. Ethics Today and Saint Thomas Aquinas | En Route Books and Media
  5. Natural Law – Australian Style | En Route Books and Media
  6. Political Science and Saint Thomas Aquinas | En Route Books and Media
  7. Economic Science and St. Thomas Aquinas: On Justice in the Distribution and Exchange of Wealth | En Route Books and Media
  8. The Social Encyclicals and Saint Thomas Aquinas | En Route Books and Media
  9. Metaphysics, Truth and St. Thomas Aquinas | En Route Books and Media
  10. Metaphysics/Ontology and St. Thomas Aquinas (Twenty Readings in Wisdom Forsaken) | En Route Books and Media
  11. Thomas of the Creator | En Route Books and Media
  12. The Thomist Tradition: Avoiding Scylla and Charybdis | En Route Books and Media

TESTIMONIALS

 

“As a necessary preparation to the principal work of his book, Dr Boland discusses with clarity and in totality Aristotle’s long neglected and poorly understood causal lines of explanation of reality and the particular natural sciences ordered according to the degrees of formal abstraction from matter. Thereafter he gives a most thorough and hierarchically ordered exposition and discussion of the true philosophical science of human psychology, that is to say, as found in the works of Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas. This is the principal and most important part of his book. It fittingly culminates with a study of the human person and serves as a necessary foundation to the second part of Dr Boland’s book – the development of a truly Thomistic synthesis: incorporating the good to be found in modern psychology and rejecting what is nonsense and even dangerous and harmful. I cannot speak highly enough of this book – it is a privilege to endorse it. I believe it is destined to a have a most beneficial influence: not only in Catholic education; but in any institution of learning where truth is sought for its own sake, and for the sake of the intellectual and moral health of its students.” – Frank Calneggia, author of Assertions and Refutations: An Assessment of Dr Tracey Rowland’s Natural Law: From Neo Thomism to Nuptial Mysticism

​ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Donald G Boland Ll. B. Ph. D. is a founding member of the Centre for Catholic Studies Inc. in Sydney Australia and is one of its former Presidents. He practiced for a number of years as a lawyer having a degree in law from the University of Sydney. Over much the same time, having obtained a doctorate in philosophy from the University of St. Thomas in Rome, he has taught philosophy and law in both Catholic and secular educational institutions, such as the University of Technology, Sydney, the University of Newcastle, the Aquinas Academy, the Centre for Thomistic Studies Inc., now operating under the name of the Centre for Catholic Studies Inc., and various Catholic seminaries, such as those of the Marists and the Vincentians. His doctoral thesis was on the concepts of utility and value in economics as found in the works of Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas.

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Science Under the Microscope: A Philosophical Investigation

Science Under the Microscope: A Philosophical Investigation
Click here for a Display of All Dr. Verschuuren's Books with En Route

Science Under the Microscope: A Philosophical Investigation

by Gerard Verschuuren

Every culture has its own sacred cows. In our culture, that sacred cow is science. What scientists claim—in the name of science and with the authority of science—is oracular. This book looks beyond the scientific nose through the lens of a philosophical analysis, which amounts to putting science under “the microscope of philosophy.”

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CH. 1 THE SECRETS OF MATTER
CH. 2 THE WORLD AS CLOCKWORK
CH. 3 DOES MOTHER EARTH HAVE A HEARTBEAT?
CH. 4 THE SECRET OF LIFE
CH. 5 THE ORIGIN OF LIFE
CH. 6 THE EVOLUTION OF LIFE
CH. 7 IS MAN STRIPPED OF HIS CLOTHES?
CH. 8 APE OR ADAM?
CH. 9 IS EVERYTHING IN THE GENES?
CH. 10 FROM SEX TO GENDER
CH. 11 CAN ANIMALS TALK?
CH. 12 CAN MACHINES THINK?
CH. 13 A MATTER OF FACT
CH. 14 THE GOD OF FACTS AND VALUES

TESTIMONIALS

“Dr. Verschuuren offers a powerful contribution to the scientific world, which is concerned with the first order of abstraction – physical being – by evaluating it through the third order of abstraction – metaphysical being. Any scientist engaged in the study of material causes will be edified by this philosophical examination, the only lens that can properly focus into every science.” – Dr. Sebastian Mahfood, OP, Director of the Institute for Theological Encounter with Faith and Science

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gerard M. Verschuuren is a human geneticist who also earned a doctorate in the philosophy of science. He studied and worked at universities in Europe and the United States. Currently semi-retired, he spends most of his time as a writer, speaker, and consultant on the interface of science and religion, faith and reason.

Currently, while semi-retired, he writes about issues at the interface of

  • science and religion,
  • science and creation,
  • faith and reason.

All his books can be found at: www.where-do-we-come-from.com

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Mysteries: Quantum and Theological by Robert Kurland

Mysteries: Quantum and Theological by Robert Kurland

Mysteries: Quantum and Theological

by Robert J. Kurland

This book endeavors to engage the reader in a qualitative understanding of physics basic to quantum mechanics (QM — wave motion, momentum, work, and energy) by walking the reader through how the field developed historically by scientists Planck, Einstein, DeBroglie, Heisenberg, Schrodinger, Schwinger, Feynman, and Bell. The reader will come to appreciate the strangeness of basic QM concepts (superposition, the EPR paradox, entanglement, and measurement selection) and be able to view intersections of QM with theology (superposition and the Trinity, entanglement and Divine Action, many worlds/minds and Free Will, quantum logic and Resurrection).

Nook: $9.99

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The 'Just Right' Anthropic Coincidences of Our Goldilocks Universe: Part III

TESTIMONIALS

TBA

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bob Kurland is a retired, cranky, old physicist who converted to Catholicism in 1995. He is a Graduate of Caltech (BS, with honor, 1951), Harvard (M.S. 1953, Physics; Ph.D. 1956, Chemical Physics), academic career, Carnegie-Mellon, SUNY/AB, MRI (Geisinger), best scientific work: search Kurland-McGarvey equation. He also served as a volunteer to federal prison and hospital; lector, EOMHC, and is a sometime player of bass clarinet, alto clarinet, clarinet, bass, tenor bowed psaltery for parish instrumental group and local folk group. He has been married 54 years and has 5 children, 11 grandchildren (eldest to graduate from Penn State Schreyer’s Honor College (grandfathers are allowed to brag!). For the story of his conversion, click here. For other blog posts about his faith as a convert from Judaism and a scientist, see here, here and here. His current effort is to show that there is no contradiction between what science tells us about the world and our Catholic faith. Intermittent blogs and adult education classes to achieve this end are available at http://rationalcatholic.blogspot.com/ and http://home.ptd.net/~rkurland)

Bob’s motivation comes from St. Augustine of Hippo, who wrote in The Trinity, 1.8:

It is also necessary may God grant it that in providing others with books to read I myself should make progress, and that in trying to answer their questions I myself should find what I am seeking. Therefore at the command of God our Lord and with his help, I have undertaken not so much to discourse with authority on matters known to me as to know them better by discoursing devoutly of them.

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