Science Episodes

March 5, 2025

Disease and the Problem of Evil | Prof. Stephen Meredith

Professor Stephen Meredith explores the problem of evil, particularly in the context of disease, examining philosophical and theological perspectives, including those of Aquinas, Leibniz, and Voltaire, while also considering biological factors like...

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Feb. 21, 2025

Do Trees Have Souls? | Prof. Joshua Hochschild

Professor Hochschild explores the question of whether trees have souls through the lens of Aristotelian biology, emphasizing the importance of empirical observation and questioning modern biology's approach.

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Feb. 20, 2025

Do You Have a Soul? Are You Just a Cloud of Atoms? | Prof. Alexander …

Professor Pruss presents arguments against physicalist theories of mind, explores the challenges to biologism and functionalism, and discusses the possibility of consciousness in non-biological systems.

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Feb. 19, 2025

Neurobiology, Human Embodiment, and the Concept of Soul | Prof. Willi…

Professor William Hurlbut explores the relationship between neurobiology and the concept of the soul, examining the reductive scientific approach to life, the challenges posed by technology like large language models, cerebral organoids, and synthe...

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Feb. 18, 2025

Why Would a Biologist Believe in the Soul? | Prof. Jonathan Buttaci

Professor Jonathan Buttaci explores the concept of the soul as a biological principle, arguing for its relevance in scientific inquiry concerning living things, drawing from Aristotelian thought, and challenging the assumption that the soul is sole...

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Feb. 17, 2025

Evolution and the Soul | Prof. Christopher Baglow

Professor Christopher Baglow explores the compatibility of evolutionary science with Catholic faith, focusing on the role of chance and divine providence, and defending the unique creation of the human soul.

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Feb. 7, 2025

Cosmological Apologetics: For and Against Creation | Prof. William E.…

Does the Big Bang prove God? In this lecture, Prof. William E. Carroll explores how cosmological arguments for and against a creator often get it wrong by confusing creation with a temporal beginning, a mistake that Thomas Aquinas can help us avoid...

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Jan. 9, 2025

The Error of Beginnings and the Beginning of Errors: Creation and the…

Professor William Carroll explores the philosophical and theological implications of cosmological claims about the beginning of the universe, emphasizing the distinction between creation and scientific explanations and cautioning against the "error...

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Jan. 8, 2025

The Christian Faith and Modern Science: Understanding and Correcting …

Professor Christopher Baglow critiques the conflict model of science and religion, tracing its origins to the late 19th century and arguing that the Catholic intellectual tradition offers a more harmonious approach by keeping faith and reason toget...

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Dec. 16, 2024

Aristotelian Philosophy and the Quantum Revolution | Prof. Robert Koo…

This lecture was given on October 9th, 2024, at Universidad Panamericana Campus Mixcoac.

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Dec. 5, 2024

What Does "Creation" Really Mean? w/ Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. & Dr. Wil…

What does it really mean to say the world is "created," according to St. Thomas Aquinas? Join Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. for an off-campus conversation with Dr. William Carroll about what "creation" really means!

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Nov. 5, 2024

Helping Patients Who Are Dying or Helping Patients to Die? | Prof. Fa…

This lecture was given on November 13th, 2023, at East Carolina University.

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Oct. 11, 2024

Light in Biology: A Molecular Perspective | Prof. Matthew Wohlever

This lecture was presented on July 20th, 2024, at The Dominican House of Studies as part of a professional conference called "Lumen Mundi: The Nature of Light and Its Effects in Nature".

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Oct. 9, 2024

On the History and Philosophy of Light | Prof. Richard F. Hassing

This lecture was presented on July 18th, 2024, at The Dominican House of Studies as part of a professional conference called "Lumen Mundi: The Nature of Light and Its Effects in Nature". This lecture includes a special hand-out, linked in the description.

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Oct. 8, 2024

Light and Life: Cellular Responses to Light | Prof. Keith Kozminski

This lecture was presented on July 20th, 2024, at The Dominican House of Studies as part of a professional conference called "Lumen Mundi: The Nature of Light and Its Effects in Nature".

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