100th post of the Duhem Society

As my colleague "Jakian Thomist" reminds me, this posting marks the one hundredth since our founding on April 7, 2009. He has sent me some wonderful news about a new edition of the Haffner study of Jaki's work, and we'll hear it shortly.

But first I think we ought to review a little about our Society. You can read Jaki's own statement of why a "Duhem Society" ought to be founded. I have augmented it simpy by including study of Jaki's work, intending that we enlarge our vision as Newman and Chesterton. Why? Here is why:

...all sciences being connected together, and having bearings one on another, it is impossible to teach them all thoroughly, unless they all are taken into account... ...all branches of knowledge are connected together, because the subject-matter of knowledge is intimately united in itself, as being the acts and the work of the Creator... ...if you drop any science out of the circle of knowledge, you cannot keep its place vacant for it; that science is forgotten; the other sciences close up, or, in other words, they exceed their proper bounds, and intrude where they have no right.
[Newman, The Idea of a University IV.15, V.1, IV.2]

The rebuilding of this bridge between science and human nature is one of the greatest needs of mankind. We have all to show that before we go on to any visions or creations we can be contented with a planet of miracles.
[Chesterton, The Defendant 75]

It is the perfection of the intellectual endeavor to unite all the subjects as one: this is the way taken in that most fruitful time called the Middle Ages - and the one which we must also take. We may not yet have our Society journal, our annual conference, our International Symposia with its published Proceedings - we may not yet have any tangible item of formal existence as the world considers such things - but if we work true to our own fields, and keep in mind the Light from these great minds, we have all we need to proceed. And perhaps, as we have been told, if we seek first the Kingdom of God, we shall receive all the other things we need... Let us keep this in mind as we proceed.

Next, "Jakian Thomist" presents an announcement of an important book. I have not yet seen this new edition, but I have read the first one and it is a useful synoptic study of the many works of SLJ. Perhaps we can take this opportunity to propose another project: simply that someone begin on a comparable work on Pierre Duhem. There is much work to be done; may God give us light and strength to do it.

--Dr. Thursday.

ANNOUNCEMENT:

Fr. Paul Haffner composed his PhD on the work of Fr. Jaki and this was first published by Christendom Press in 1990 with a list of Fr. Jaki's publications. It is with great joy that we announce that this excellent review is once again available in print in memoriam of Fr. Jaki. It has been republished in a new expanded and updated edition by Gracewing Publishing with a full bibliography of Fr. Jaki's work approved by him.

It is available now from Amazon.com at the following link:

http://www.amazon.com/Creation-scientific-creativity-Study-Thought/dp/0852444540