Ontological Bridges and the Mind of the Universe
Rafael A. Martínez
Professor
Pontifical University of the Holy Cross
The intellectual career of Mariano Artigas (1938–2006) has been very rich, covering from Philosophy of Science to Philosophy of Nature, History of Science, and Science & Religion. He has produced, almost in all these fields, new and original views that can provided very promising programs of research in order to increase our comprehension of science, faith and the natural world. One of the most characteristic aspects of his proposal is the unity and coherence among the different fields. His ‘open’ and non-reductivistic understanding of the nature and method of experimental science, which follows and further develops the ‘objectualist realism’ first proposed by Evandro Agazzi, has been a source of inspiration for his original and synthetic views on Nature. His Philosophy of Nature, deeply rooted on scientific experience, was able to reach a real comprehension of the natural world, as we know it today through natural science, along with a profound metaphysical insight on reality.
The Mind of the Universe has been his more accomplished attempt to present, in a fully comprehensive way, the relationship between science, nature and God. In this wide syntheses, the harmony between the scientific views and the religious and theological views is obtained through the search for the ‘intelligibility’ of the natural world. Science, philosophy and religion are able to reveal the sense and value of Nature and its role and significance for human person.