Wolfgang Smith accomplishes a re-integration of the physical sciences into a worldview banished since the Enlightenment yet perfectly accommodative of every legitimate discovery of science. This worldview proves to be precisely what is needed to resolve the quandary of the quantum paradox, which has stymied theoretical physicists since 1927!
In a two-year correspondence with Malachi Martin, Wolfgang Smith broached a wide spectrum of topics, to which Fr. Martin responded in a way that may surprise many. What ultimately stands at issue is the meaning of authentic Catholicity. This luminous exchange will be welcomed by all readers seeking deeper currents in contemporary Catholic thought.
Basing himself on Christian sources-literally "from Saint Paul to Meister Eckhart"-Wolfgang Smith formulates what he terms an "unexpurgated" account of gnosis, and demonstrates its central place in the perfection of the Christ-centered life. He observes, moreover, that the very conception of a "supreme knowing," as implied by the aforesaid sources, has a decisive bearing upon cosmology, which moreover constitutes the underlying principle upon which his earlier scientific and philosophical work-beginning with his ground-breaking treatise on the interpretation of quantum mechanics-has been based. The "fact of gnosis," however, has a decisive bearing on the theological notion of creatio ex nihilo as well, and it is this imperative that Smith proposes to explore in the present work. What is thus demanded, he contends, is the inherently Kabbalistic notion of a creatio ex Deo et in Deo, not to replace, but to complement the creatio ex nihilo. This leads to an engagement with Christian Kabbalah (Pico de la Mirandola, Johann Reuchlin, and Cardinal Egidio di Viterbo especially) and with Jacob Boehme, culminating in an exegesis of Meister Eckhart's doctrine. The author argues, first of all, that Eckhart does not (as many have thought) advocate a "God beyond God" theology: does not, in other words, hold an inherently Sabellian view of the Trinity. Smith maintains that Eckhart has not in fact transgressed a single Trinitarian or Christological dogma; what he does deny implicitly, he shows, is none other than the creatio ex nihilo, which in effect Eckhart replaces with the Kabbalistic creatio ex Deo. In this shift, moreover, Smith perceives the transition from "exoteric" to "esoteric" within the integral domain of Christian doctrine. Wolfgang Smith brings to his writing a rare combination of qualities and experiences, not the least his ability to move freely between the somewhat arcane worlds of science and traditional metaphysics. Alongside Dr. Smith's imposing qualifications in mathematics, physics, and philosophy, we find his hard-earned expertise in Platonism, Christian theology, traditional cosmologies, and Oriental metaphysics. His outlook has been enriched both by his diverse professional experiences in the high-tech world of the aerospace industry and in academia, and by his own researches in the course of his far-reaching intellectual and spiritual journeying. Here is that rare person who is equally at home with Eckhart and Einstein, Heraclitus and Heisenberg! [Harry Oldmeadow, La Trobe University]
When a physicist who becomes a metaphysician, and a metaphysician who studies physics, join together to examine science (quantum physics and cosmogenesis in particular), explosive results might well be expected. Here Wolfgang Smith and Jean Borella return us to a Weltanschauung that can finally account for the world in all its dimensions.
Following the overthrow of the classical world picture by the findings of quantum mechanics, physicists have proposed a broad gamut of alternative world views. This book begins with the major recognition that each of these suffers from a certain ?residual Cartesianism? that has been smuggled in unconsciously. It turns out that the moment one discards this hidden and problematic premise, quantum theory begins to ?make sense? in a way that it never has before. As the author shows, it is now possible, for the first time, to integrate the findings of quantum physics into a world view that is neither forced nor ad hoc, but conforms to the permanent intuitions of mankind. Surprisingly, this treatise can be read not only by scientists, but also by readers unacquainted with the technical conceptions of physics or the quantum-reality literature. Wolfgang Smith graduated from Cornell University at age eighteen with majors in physics, philosophy, and mathematics.After taking an M.S. in physics at Purdue he pursued research in aerodynamics, where his papers on diffusion fields have provided the theoretical key to the solution of the re-entry problem for space flight.After receiving a Ph.D. in mathematics from Columbia University, Dr. Smith held faculty positions at M.I.T, U.C.L.A., and Oregon State University, where he served as Professor of Mathematics until his retirement in 1992. In addition to numerous technical publications (relating to differential topology), Dr. Smith has published three previous books and many articles dealing with foundational and interdisciplinary problems. He has been especially concerned to unmask conceptions of a scientistic kind widely accepted today as scientifictruths. ?Wolfgang Smith is as important a thinker as our times boast, and this is his most seminal book.? ?Huston Smith ?The Quantum Enigma is of great importance not only for the philosophy of science, but also for the whole domain of human knowledge, and should be disseminated as widely as possible.? ?Seyyed Hossein Nasr ?Unusually interesting . . . profoundly enlightening.? ?Henry Margenau
Teilhardian ideas are at the root of the "new religion" laying waste the Catholic Church today. This brilliant scientist, mathematician and philosopher shows Teilhard's theory of the physical and spiritual evolution of all things (including God) to be scientifically fraudulent and philosophically impossible. Also explodes the theory of biological evolution. Absolutely refutes the notion that Catholic teaching should evolve in order to keep up with science. A brilliant work!
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama spoke with Iranian philosopher Ramin Jahanbegloo in May 2007 for this issue of Sophia on a wide range of topics including Buddhist tradition, compassion, and September 11, 2001. (World Religions)
In 1910, Agnes Carter makes the wrong choice in marriage. After years as an independent woman of fortune, influential with the board of a prominent university because of her financial donations, she is now subject to the whims of an abusive, spendthrift husband. But when Bohemian naturalist and glassblower Ignace Novak reignites Agnes's passion for science, Agnes begins to imagine a different life, and she sets her mind to getting it. Agnes's desperate actions breed secrecy, and the resulting silence echoes into the future. Her son, Edward, wants to be a man of faith but struggles with the complexities of the mortal world while apprenticing at a stained-glass studio. In 1986, Edward's child, Novak-just Novak-is an acrobatic window washer cleaning Manhattan high-rises, who gets caught up in the plight of Cecily, a small town girl remade as a gender-bending Broadway ingénue. And in 2015, Cecily's daughter Flip-a burned-out stoner trapped in a bureaucratic job firing cremains into keepsake glass ornaments-resolves to break the cycle of inherited secrets, reaching back through the generations in search of a family legacy that feels true.
In his powerful essay, Smith sets forth Stephen Hawking's "Grand Design's" key conceptions and the overall logic of its argument, offering a five-fold refutation, based upon both philosophic and scientific grounds. He also places the phenomenon of Hawking's bestseller in perspective by reflecting upon the nature, motivation, and limits of the scientific enterprise as such.
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