edited by Giuseppe Tanzella-Nitti, Philip Larrey and Alberto Strumìa



Interdisciplinary Documentation

Interdisciplinary Encyclopedia

INTERS Catalogue

Instructions for the Readers

Interdisciplinary Encyclopaedia of Religion and Science

	Agnosticism
	Analogy
	Anthropic Principle
	Atheism
	Autonomy
	Bethlehem, Star of
	Beauty
	Bioethics
	Cinema
	Cosmology
	Creation
	Culture
	Death

	Determinism/ Indeterminism
	Dialogue, Science and Theology
	Ecology
	Epistemology
	Evolution
	Experience
	Extraterrestrial life
	Fideism
	Geology
	God
	Gospels

	Human embryo
	Idealism
	Infinity
	Information
	Intelligence, artificial
	Jesus Christ, Incarnation and doctrine of Logos
	Laws of Nature
	Magisterium of Catholic Church
	Man, origin and nature
	Materialism
	Matter
	Mechanics

	Medicine
	Mind-Body Relationship
	Miracle
	Mystery
	Myth
	Nature
	Natural sciences, in the work of theologians
	New Age
	Pantheism
	Pontifical Academy of Sciences
	Positivism
	Progress

	Quantum Mechanics
	Reductionism
	Relativity
	Resurrection
	Sacred Scripture
	Sky
	Shroud of Turin
	Soul
	Spirit
	Technology
	Time
	Truth
	Unity of Knowledge
	Universe

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Human embryo
by Roberto Colombo, Faculty of Medicine, Catholic University of the Sacro Cuore, Milan

Within the various themes which bioethics is concerned with, the question about the nature of human life before birth has received so much attention that some could judge it even to be excessive...

Idealism
by Alessandro Salucci, Faculty of Philosophy, Pontifical University St. Thomas Aquinas, Rome

By the word «idealism» we indicate that kind of philosophy which, when asked for the source of all human knowledge, answers by making knowledge identical with thought, that is with the ideas themselves...

Infinity
by Gianfranco Basti, Pontifical Lateran University, Rome

Since ancient times, the word «infinite» displayed a wide spectrum of meanings. It was used in the language of philosophy and theology, in the language of mathematics and poetry...

Information
by Eugenio Sarti, Faculty of Engineering, University of Bologna

Words such as «form» or «to form», «formula» or «to formulate», «format» or «information» are widely used. They belong not only to the language of classic and modern philosophy, but also to the language of science, especially to the field of computer sciences, which deal with logic and communication...

Intelligence, artificial
by Paola Mello, Faculty of Engineering, University of Bologna

The expression Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a kind of paradox that attributes to what is “artificial”, something which is essentially “natural”, that is intelligence, the jealous prerogative of human nature. The expression is provocative indeed. There are those who ask whether a machine might really be “intelligent”, in the same sense that we use such an adjective to refer to the human mind...

Jesus Christ, Incarnation and doctrine of Logos
by Giuseppe Tanzella-Nitti, Faculty of Theology, Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Rome

The mystery of the Word become flesh is the locus for the Christian understanding of the relation between God and nature, the key to understanding the meaning of the created world, the logic of its beginning and final fulfilment...

Laws of Nature
by Giuseppe Tanzella-Nitti, Faculty of Theology, Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Rome

The notion of «law» is strongly analogical in character. Originating in the socio-juridical field, its usage was then extended to that of scientific rationality. In enters the domain of science first through the notions of harmonic rule and numerical proportion (Phytagoras), and, after the foundation of experimental method, through the mathematical formulation of physical phenomena. At the same time, the notion of law seems to refer to the presence of a ruler, that is one who governs...

Magisterium of Catholic Church
by Mario Gargantini, Emmeciquadro, Euresis, Milan

The events told by the New Testament of the Christian Bible show that the twelve apostles called by Jesus of Nazareth, having Peter of Capharnaum as their head and sign of unity, were entrusted with the special role of preserving and transmitting the teachings received from Jesus himself, particularly what concerned the forgiveness of sins, his death and resurrection...

Man, origin and nature
by Fiorenzo Facchini, Department of Evolutionary Biology, University of Bologna

When looking at the reality, the human beings perceive a natural link between themselves and the other animals, with which they share the great majority of their biological functions and processes, but, at the same time, the human beings realize their singularity and uniqueness...

Materialism
by Giuseppe Tanzella-Nitti, Faculty of Theology, Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Rome

The term “materialism” is relatively recent. We first find it, towards the end of the 17th century, as an entry in Pierre Bayle’s (1647-1706) Dictionnaire historique et critique (1697). However, the philosophical perspective that it embodies is at least two thousand years older and dates back to Greek pre-Socratic thought…

Matter
by Alberto Strumia, Department of Mathematics, University of Bari, Italy

In common, everyday language, we usually designate as “matter” everything which falls under the direct perception of our external senses: we call “material” that which one can see, touch, smell, taste and hear...

Mechanics
by Alberto Strumia, Department of Mathematics, University of Bari, Italy

Mechanics is the field of physics which studies the motion of material bodies. In the Greek ancient world mechanics was endowed with a negative nuance, because «mechanical art» represented a kind of material and hand-made activity, opposed to the nobler activity of thought, capable of elevating up to the world of ideas...

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