Papers by Gideon Lazar
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New Polity, 2022
In this essay, I analyze how the Franciscan tradition might benefit Catholic political thought in... more In this essay, I analyze how the Franciscan tradition might benefit Catholic political thought in three ways. First, drawing on Bl. John Duns Scotus, I suggest that the primacy of Christ can show us that the kingship of Christ is the very purpose of political, not something dependent on sin. Secondly, drawing on St. Bonaventure, I suggest that his theology of history might show how Christ will indeed be victorious in history. Finally, drawing on St. Maximilian Kolbe, I show how the immaculate conception provides a model for political action.
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One of the important discussions in current dialogue between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches i... more One of the important discussions in current dialogue between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches is the discussion over the doctrine of original sin. Many on both sides today allege that Augustine departed from the wider patristic consensus by understanding infants to be guilty of the sin of Adam. This paper will analyze what Augustine did actually believe about original sin, and then will compare that to the New Testament and the wider Patristic Consensus. One of the most important topics in this discussion will be looking at the proper translation of ἐφ ᾧ πάντες ἥμαρτον in Romans 5:12 to see if Augustine does indeed use a mistranslation in in Latin in quo omnes peccaverunt.
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Conference Presentations by Gideon Lazar
This is a short presentation I gave at the Sacra Doctrina Project 2024 conference.
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Science and Religion Forum, 2024
This is a draft paper I delivered for "Continuous and co-creation: Emergence in a Scientific Age"... more This is a draft paper I delivered for "Continuous and co-creation: Emergence in a Scientific Age" by the Science and Religion Forum. A more complete version will be published in the conference proceedings.
ABSTRACT: Sean Carroll has argued that all of our daily experiences can be explained in terms of quantum field theory and weak energy gravity, and so consciousness and the experience of free will must somehow be emergent properties only. Libertarian free will would therefore not exist. However, Carroll’s preferred interpretation of quantum mechanics, the many worlds interpretation, suggests a way to reintroduce libertarian free will into quantum field theory. This paper will explore such an approach by comparing quantum physics to the medieval philosopher John Duns Scotus (d. 1308). Quantum physics initiated a significant shift in the way scientists understood nature. It changed the world from fundamentally deterministic to fundamentally probabilistic. A similar shift occurred in metaphysics in the time of Scotus. Scotus upended the deterministic metaphysics of Aristotle through the concept of synchronic contingency in order to preserve both human and divine freedom. Scotus introduces his own “many worlds” theory, but rather than a plurality of actual worlds, Scotus suggests an infinite number of possible worlds in the divine mind. In light of synchronic contingency, the many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics should be understood as a multiplicity of potential worlds virtually contained in the wave function rather than a multiplicity of actual worlds. Furthermore, Scotus’s concept of an indeterminacy of actuality provides a way to justify libertarian free will. This paper suggests a “selected branches interpretation” of quantum mechanics whereby the will selects which branch of the wave function to move to. This allows for free will without violating any of the laws of quantum field theory. We do not consciously experience this selection because of Scotus’s metaphysics of the plurality of forms. The soul acts upon the organs which it informs. However, those forms can in turn mediate this to lower matter. Thus, this seems to leave open the possibility of free will within quantum field theory. Given the extremely large number of particles in a human body this seems almost impossible to test, but since all that is being maintained is that quantum field theory does not rule out libertarian free will, experimental verification is not necessary.
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Papers by Gideon Lazar
Conference Presentations by Gideon Lazar
ABSTRACT: Sean Carroll has argued that all of our daily experiences can be explained in terms of quantum field theory and weak energy gravity, and so consciousness and the experience of free will must somehow be emergent properties only. Libertarian free will would therefore not exist. However, Carroll’s preferred interpretation of quantum mechanics, the many worlds interpretation, suggests a way to reintroduce libertarian free will into quantum field theory. This paper will explore such an approach by comparing quantum physics to the medieval philosopher John Duns Scotus (d. 1308). Quantum physics initiated a significant shift in the way scientists understood nature. It changed the world from fundamentally deterministic to fundamentally probabilistic. A similar shift occurred in metaphysics in the time of Scotus. Scotus upended the deterministic metaphysics of Aristotle through the concept of synchronic contingency in order to preserve both human and divine freedom. Scotus introduces his own “many worlds” theory, but rather than a plurality of actual worlds, Scotus suggests an infinite number of possible worlds in the divine mind. In light of synchronic contingency, the many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics should be understood as a multiplicity of potential worlds virtually contained in the wave function rather than a multiplicity of actual worlds. Furthermore, Scotus’s concept of an indeterminacy of actuality provides a way to justify libertarian free will. This paper suggests a “selected branches interpretation” of quantum mechanics whereby the will selects which branch of the wave function to move to. This allows for free will without violating any of the laws of quantum field theory. We do not consciously experience this selection because of Scotus’s metaphysics of the plurality of forms. The soul acts upon the organs which it informs. However, those forms can in turn mediate this to lower matter. Thus, this seems to leave open the possibility of free will within quantum field theory. Given the extremely large number of particles in a human body this seems almost impossible to test, but since all that is being maintained is that quantum field theory does not rule out libertarian free will, experimental verification is not necessary.
ABSTRACT: Sean Carroll has argued that all of our daily experiences can be explained in terms of quantum field theory and weak energy gravity, and so consciousness and the experience of free will must somehow be emergent properties only. Libertarian free will would therefore not exist. However, Carroll’s preferred interpretation of quantum mechanics, the many worlds interpretation, suggests a way to reintroduce libertarian free will into quantum field theory. This paper will explore such an approach by comparing quantum physics to the medieval philosopher John Duns Scotus (d. 1308). Quantum physics initiated a significant shift in the way scientists understood nature. It changed the world from fundamentally deterministic to fundamentally probabilistic. A similar shift occurred in metaphysics in the time of Scotus. Scotus upended the deterministic metaphysics of Aristotle through the concept of synchronic contingency in order to preserve both human and divine freedom. Scotus introduces his own “many worlds” theory, but rather than a plurality of actual worlds, Scotus suggests an infinite number of possible worlds in the divine mind. In light of synchronic contingency, the many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics should be understood as a multiplicity of potential worlds virtually contained in the wave function rather than a multiplicity of actual worlds. Furthermore, Scotus’s concept of an indeterminacy of actuality provides a way to justify libertarian free will. This paper suggests a “selected branches interpretation” of quantum mechanics whereby the will selects which branch of the wave function to move to. This allows for free will without violating any of the laws of quantum field theory. We do not consciously experience this selection because of Scotus’s metaphysics of the plurality of forms. The soul acts upon the organs which it informs. However, those forms can in turn mediate this to lower matter. Thus, this seems to leave open the possibility of free will within quantum field theory. Given the extremely large number of particles in a human body this seems almost impossible to test, but since all that is being maintained is that quantum field theory does not rule out libertarian free will, experimental verification is not necessary.