Elementary Particles are not Substances

2017 ◽  
Vol 91 ◽  
pp. 63-72
Author(s):  
Robert Verrill ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Person ◽  
Physical Reality ◽  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
Elementary Particles ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Ontological Commitments ◽  
Modern Age ◽  
Christian Understanding ◽  
Physical Phenomena ◽  
Philosophical Understanding

The doctrine of the salvation of souls is obviously central to our Christian faith. Yet one of the challenges of communicating this truth is that many people have ontological commitments that don’t even allow for the existence of souls. Therefore, a philosophical understanding of physical reality which is compatible with a Christian understanding of the human person is especially important if we are to preach the Gospel effectively in the modern age. Like many Christian philosophers, I believe that St. Thomas Aquinas provides us with such a philosophical understanding of physical reality. Nevertheless, we need to be careful in how we map Aquinas’s philosophical concepts onto physical phenomena. It is with this concern in mind that I will argue that elementary particles are not substances.

The Philosopher's Progress: C.S. Lewis' Intellectual Journey from Atheism to Theism

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-143
Author(s):  
Norbert Feinendegen
Keyword(s):  
Christian Faith ◽  
Philosophical Position ◽  
Absolute Idealism ◽  
Intellectual Journey ◽  
Philosophical Progress ◽  
Philosophical Understanding

Although Lewis describes his intellectual journey to the Christian faith in Surprised by Joy and The Pilgrim's Regress, the actual steps of his progress from Atheism to Theism are still a matter of controversy. Based on Lewis' letters, his diary All My Road Before Me and recently published sources (in particular ‘Early Prose Joy’), this paper gives an outline of the main steps of Lewis' philosophical progress during the 1920s. The first part sketches the five main stages Materialism, Realism, Absolute Idealism, Subjective Idealism, and Theism, and submits a proposal for their dating. The second part describes these stages in greater detail and discusses the reasons that urged Lewis to adopt a new philosophical position at a particular time. It will become apparent that a thorough philosophical understanding of these stages is an indispensable prerequisite for any serious effort to establish a chronology of Lewis' intellectual progress during these years.

The Human Person in Contemporary Philosophy

Philosophy ◽  
1950 ◽  
Vol 25 (92) ◽  
pp. 3-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederick C. Copleston
Keyword(s):  
Human Person ◽  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
Sixth Century ◽  
Human Being ◽  
Contemporary Philosophy ◽  
Individual Substance ◽  
Rational Nature

I. In the early part of the sixth century a.d. Boethius defined the person as “an individual substance of rational nature” (rationalis naturae individua substantia). This definition, which became classical and was adopted by, for example, St. Thomas Aquinas, obviously implies that every human being is a person, since every human being is (to employ the philosophical terms of Boethius) an individual substance of rational nature. If one cannot be more or less of a human being, so far as “substance” is concerned, one cannot be more or less of a person. One may act as a human person ought not to act or in a way unbefitting a human person; one may even lose the normal use of one's reason; but one does not in this way become depersonalized, in the sense of ceasing to be a person. According to St. Thomas, a disembodied soul is not, strictly speaking, a person, since a disembodied soul is no longer a complete human substance; but every complete human substance is always and necessarily a person.

Using three elementary particles to construct the physical world

2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 236-247
Author(s):  
Huawang Li
Keyword(s):  
Electromagnetic Waves ◽  
Physical World ◽  
Elementary Particles ◽  
Average Kinetic Energy ◽  
Particle Collisions ◽  
Conservation Of Energy ◽  
Fundamental Particles ◽  
Energy And Momentum ◽  
Physical Phenomena ◽  
The Universe

In this paper, we conjecture that gravitation, electromagnetism, and strong nuclear interactions are all produced by particle collisions by determining the essential concept of force in physics (that is, the magnitude of change in momentum per unit time for a group of particles traveling in one direction), and further speculate the existence of a new particle, Yizi. The average kinetic energy of Yizi is considered to be equal to Planck’s constant, so the mass of Yizi is calculated to be <mml:math display="inline"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>7.37</mml:mn> <mml:mo>×</mml:mo> <mml:msup> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>10</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>51</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msup> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> kg and the average velocity of Yizi is <mml:math display="inline"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>4.24</mml:mn> <mml:mo>×</mml:mo> <mml:msup> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>10</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mn>8</mml:mn> </mml:msup> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> m/s. The universe is filled with Yizi gas, the number density of Yizi can reach <mml:math display="inline"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>1.61</mml:mn> <mml:mo>×</mml:mo> <mml:msup> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>10</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>64</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msup> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> /m3, and Yizi has no charge. After abandoning the idealism of physics, I try to construct a physical framework from three elementary particles: Protons, electrons, and Yizis. (The elementary particles mentioned here generally refer to the indivisible particles that constitute objects.) The effects of Yizi on the conversion of light, electricity, magnetism, mass, and energy as well as the strong nuclear and electromagnetic forces are emphasized. The gravitation of electromagnetic waves is measured using a Cavendish torsion balance. It is shown experimentally that electromagnetic waves not only produce pressure (repulsion) but also gravitational forces upon objects. The universe is a combination of three fundamental particles. Motion is eternal and follows the laws of conservation of energy and momentum. There is only one force: The magnitude of change in momentum per unit time for a group of particles traveling in one direction. Furthermore, this corresponds to the magnitude of the force that the group of particles exerts in that direction. From this perspective, all physical phenomena are relatively easy to explain.

scholarly journals E O VERBO FEZ-SE CARNE: A EUCARISTIA ENQUANTO ATO INSTITUINTE DO SER

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (18) ◽  
pp. 61
Author(s):  
Mauro Meireles
Keyword(s):  
Mikhail Bakhtin ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Title Page ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Anthropology Of Religion ◽  
Existence Of God ◽  
The One ◽  
Physical Phenomena

<div class="page" title="Page 1"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p>A eucaristia é um rito católico que visa reafirmar a fé cristã. O presente texto ocupa-se, portanto, da eucaristia enquanto ato instituinte do ser e busca pensar o referido rito a partir da perspectiva de Mikhail Bakhtin. Desta feita e a partir do enfoque da antropologia, se ancora em certas sínteses na medida em que, a validade daquilo que se pressupõe verdade, do ponto de vista da cognição, não depende do fato desta ser ou não ser conhecida por alguém. Pois, é o homem que une fé e rito, que une verdades da ciência e fenômenos físicos. Desta feita, tem-se então que, quando postulamos a existência de Deus a partir de certos escritos canônicos – e o reafirmamos no rito eucarístico – lhe conferimos existência e tangibilidade. Sobretudo, defende- se no decorrer do texto que a eucaristia, seja enquanto ato instituinte, seja enquanto rito, nada mais é do que uma enunciação de si sobre si que só tem significado, manifesto em seu conteúdo- sentido, se enunciado por aquele que experimenta e executa o ato.</p></div></div><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p><span>P</span><span>ALAVRAS</span><span>-C</span><span>HAVE</span><span>: </span><span>Eucaristia. Rito Eucarístico. Mikhail Bakhtin. Rito e Fé. Antropologia da Religião. </span></p><p><span>A</span><span>BSTRACT </span></p><p><span>Eucharist is a Catholic rite that aims to reaffirm the Christian faith. This paper analyzes the Eucharist rite as instituted act of being and aims think that rite in the Mikhail Bakhtin ́s perspective. So, from an anthropology's approach, it is based in some perspectives that recognize validity in of what is assumed true, in a cognition point of view, depends on whether this is or is not known to anyone. That is because the man is the one who unites faith and rite, truths of science and physical phenomena. Therefore, when we postulate the existence of God from certain canonical writings - and reaffirm the Eucharistic rite, we give him existence and tangibility. Most of all, this text argued that the Eucharist is as instituted act or a rite, is nothing more than a statement of itself that only has meaning, manifest in their content-sense, if enunciated by one who experience and performs the act. </span></p><p><span>K</span><span>EYWORDS</span><span>: </span><span>Eucharist. Eucharistic rite. Mikhail Bakhtin. Ritual and faith. Anthropology of Religion </span></p></div></div></div>

scholarly journals THEOLOGY AND POLITICO-LEGAL POPULARIZATION OF MARTYRDOM IN THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSAL MONARCHY

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Victoria Sandoval Parra
Keyword(s):  
Natural Law ◽  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
Modern Age ◽  
Original Thinking

The choice of the doctrine of St. Thomas Aquinas to formulate a theory of martyrdom present in the Hispanic Modern Age corresponds to the evident fact of its value as foundation of the Second Scholasticism theology, in the quality of builderof the philosophical and theological tendency that laid the foundations for the renovation of natural Law: an intellectualist iusnaturalism, contrary to voluntarism, which meant the Catholic orthodoxy and constituted, under the counter-reformist spirit, the basis of a reinterpretative and original thinking embodied by the modern jurists and theologians in their treatises and commentaries in order to acquire a political and legal connotation with regard to the legitimation of the nature and aimsof Universal Monarchy.

The Contemporary Reception of Aquinas on the Natural Knowledge of God

2021 ◽  
pp. 595-611
Author(s):  
David VanDrunen
Keyword(s):  
Natural Theology ◽  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Natural Order ◽  
Reformed Theology ◽  
Summa Theologiae ◽  
Human Reason ◽  
Natural Knowledge ◽  
Knowledge Of God ◽  
Attributes Of God

This chapter considers key themes from Thomas Aquinas’ view of the natural knowledge of God, or natural theology, from the opening of his Summa theologiae. It is written from the perspective of Reformed theology, which has traditionally supported natural theology of a certain kind, despite its recent reputation as an opponent of natural theology. According to Thomas, natural theology is insufficient for salvation and is inevitably laden with errors apart from the help of supernatural revelation. But human reason, operating properly, can demonstrate the existence and certain attributes of God from the natural order, and this natural knowledge constitutes preambles to the articles of the Christian faith. The chapter thus engages in a critically sympathetic analysis of these themes and suggests how a contemporary reception of Thomas might appropriate them effectively.

Karl Rahner, SJ (1904–84): A Theologian for the Twenty-First Century

2005 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 352-363
Author(s):  
Leo J. O'Donovan
Keyword(s):  
Martin Heidegger ◽  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
First Century ◽  
Karl Rahner ◽  
Reciprocal Relations ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Human Reason ◽  
Experience Of God ◽  
Dialectical Approach ◽  
Modern Age

One of the most prolific theologians of the modern age, Karl Rahner drew on Ignatius of Loyola, Thomas Aquinas, the Kantian tradition, and Martin Heidegger to forge a new approach to the concrete dialectic of historical transcendence. This essay offers guidance for reading him in a new century with particular attention to his understanding of human reason; the reciprocal relations of knowledge, love and freedom; the interrelatedness of our experience of God, self, and community; the primacy of praxis; and his concrete dialectical approach to shared freedom in time.

Thomas Aquinas and Natural Inclination in Non-Living Nature

2018 ◽  
Vol 92 ◽  
pp. 211-222
Author(s):  
Steven Baldner ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Person ◽  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
Good Sense ◽  
Natural Substances ◽  
Natural Inclination ◽  
Good For ◽  
Living Nature ◽  
The Universe

Thomas Aquinas recognizes natural inclination to be present everywhere in nature, and this inclination is always toward what is good both for the natural thing itself and also for the universe as a whole. Thomas’s primary example of natural inclination is found in the four simple elements, which have natural inclinations to their natural places. The inclination of these non-living elements is then the basis for understanding that natural human inclinations are towards goods for the human person and that the whole world shows a universal intelligent ordering toward what is good. I argue, however, that the natural inclination of non-living, natural bodies to ends that are good for the elements themselves makes good sense in Thomas’s cosmology, but not in ours. Natural substances still show finality in our cosmos, but in a more restricted way than what Thomas was able to find.

The Liturgical Mystery

2020 ◽  
pp. 128-143
Author(s):  
Andrew Louth
Keyword(s):  
Christian Faith ◽  
Christian Understanding ◽  
The Cross ◽  
The Individual

This chapter argues that the heart of the ‘mystical’ in the Christian faith is inalienably liturgical. Despite the fact that modern use of the ‘mystical’, and especially ‘mysticism’, is concerned wholly with the experience of the individual, whether in the context of the sacramental life or outside it, the root meaning of the mystical in Christian understanding is bound up with the sacraments, and pre-eminently the eucharist, the divine liturgy. It is argued further that the eucharist is to be seen less as a text than an action, or movement, and an action performed by Christ: on the cross, eternally in heaven, and now in the eucharist. He is coming to draw the whole cosmos into unity with him and his offering himself to the Father. This is an act of reconciliation and love, with entailments, ascetical, ontological, metaphysical, and cosmic.

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