Animal, Vegetable, or Mineral: Aquinas on Inanimate vs. Animate Nature | Fr. Thomas Davenport, O.P.

This lecture was given at the Fourth Annual Thomistic Philosophy and Natural Science Symposium entitled, Complexity, Simplicity and Emergence, on July 14, 2022 at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website: www.thomisticinstitute.org About the speaker: Fr. Thomas Davenport, O.P. is a Dominican friar, physicist, and philosopher. He joined the faculty of philosophy at the Angelicum in Rome in 2020, where he co-leads the Project for Science and Religion. Before joining the Dominican order he studied physics at the California Institute of Technology before going on to earn his doctorate in physics from Stanford University studying theoretical particle physics. The focus of his scientific research is writing and testing simulations for high energy particle colliders like the LHC at CERN. After joining the Dominicans in 2010, he studied philosophy and theology in preparation for his ordination to the priesthood in 2017. In addition, he earned a Licentiate in Philosophy from the Catholic University of America, focusing on the philosophy of science and natural philosophy. For two years he was an Assistant Professor of Physics at Providence College in Providence, RI, where he taught physics and restarted a research program in particle physics. He has written and spoken in a number of forums on the relationship between faith and science including contributions to the Thomistic Evolution project and organizing conferences on science and philosophy for the Thomistic Institute in Washington, DC.