Physics as Spiritual Exercise

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Book chapter › Research › peer-review

Standard

Physics as Spiritual Exercise. / Ip, Pui Him.

After Science and Religon: Fresh Perspectives from Philosophy and Theology. ed. / Peter Harrison; John Milbank. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2022. p. 282-298.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Book chapter › Research › peer-review

Harvard

Ip, PH 2022, Physics as Spiritual Exercise. in P Harrison & J Milbank (eds), After Science and Religon: Fresh Perspectives from Philosophy and Theology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 282-298. <https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/after-science-and-religion/physics-as-spiritual-exercise/45E354355F4E27E80DCD12BACB31E86C>

APA

Ip, P. H. (2022). Physics as Spiritual Exercise. In P. Harrison, & J. Milbank (Eds.), After Science and Religon: Fresh Perspectives from Philosophy and Theology (pp. 282-298). Cambridge University Press. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/after-science-and-religion/physics-as-spiritual-exercise/45E354355F4E27E80DCD12BACB31E86C

Vancouver

Ip PH. Physics as Spiritual Exercise. In Harrison P, Milbank J, editors, After Science and Religon: Fresh Perspectives from Philosophy and Theology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2022. p. 282-298

Author

Ip, Pui Him. / Physics as Spiritual Exercise. After Science and Religon: Fresh Perspectives from Philosophy and Theology. editor / Peter Harrison ; John Milbank. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2022. pp. 282-298

Bibtex

@inbook{6210a28afb36499c98c6bc2088ed13e0,
title = "Physics as Spiritual Exercise",
abstract = "Can physics be beneficial for bringing about human moral and spiritual goods? Modern physics is perpetually in search for grand unification of our world-pictures, but its method is arbitrarily self-limiting in ruling out any place in its conception of nature for the human as spiritual and moral beings. But this estrangement between nature and the human has not always been the case. Drawing from Pierre Hadot{\textquoteright}s pioneering work, this essay retrieves the notion of physics as {\textquoteleft}spiritual exercise{\textquoteright} from ancient philosophy and early Christianity for reimagining the enterprise of physics today. Envisaged as spiritual exercise, ancient physics goes beyond a mere acquisition of {\textquoteleft}objective{\textquoteright} knowledge of nature towards the fashioning of human moral and spiritual transformation. Illustrating from Origen of Alexandria, I show that this vision of physics is principally grounded upon a metaphysics that unites all parts of nature, including human nature, into a single whole. This chapter argues that it is desirable to retrieve the ancient vision today not as a displacement of modern physics but through the re-invention of natural philosophy alongside it. This retrieval should give urgency to the task of rethinking the desirability of a comprehensive and unified metaphysical account of nature for today.",
author = "Ip, {Pui Him}",
year = "2022",
month = may,
language = "English",
isbn = "978-1-316-51792-5",
pages = "282--298",
editor = "Peter Harrison and John Milbank",
booktitle = "After Science and Religon",
publisher = "Cambridge University Press",
address = "United Kingdom",

}

RIS

TY - CHAP

T1 - Physics as Spiritual Exercise

AU - Ip, Pui Him

PY - 2022/5

Y1 - 2022/5

N2 - Can physics be beneficial for bringing about human moral and spiritual goods? Modern physics is perpetually in search for grand unification of our world-pictures, but its method is arbitrarily self-limiting in ruling out any place in its conception of nature for the human as spiritual and moral beings. But this estrangement between nature and the human has not always been the case. Drawing from Pierre Hadot’s pioneering work, this essay retrieves the notion of physics as ‘spiritual exercise’ from ancient philosophy and early Christianity for reimagining the enterprise of physics today. Envisaged as spiritual exercise, ancient physics goes beyond a mere acquisition of ‘objective’ knowledge of nature towards the fashioning of human moral and spiritual transformation. Illustrating from Origen of Alexandria, I show that this vision of physics is principally grounded upon a metaphysics that unites all parts of nature, including human nature, into a single whole. This chapter argues that it is desirable to retrieve the ancient vision today not as a displacement of modern physics but through the re-invention of natural philosophy alongside it. This retrieval should give urgency to the task of rethinking the desirability of a comprehensive and unified metaphysical account of nature for today.

AB - Can physics be beneficial for bringing about human moral and spiritual goods? Modern physics is perpetually in search for grand unification of our world-pictures, but its method is arbitrarily self-limiting in ruling out any place in its conception of nature for the human as spiritual and moral beings. But this estrangement between nature and the human has not always been the case. Drawing from Pierre Hadot’s pioneering work, this essay retrieves the notion of physics as ‘spiritual exercise’ from ancient philosophy and early Christianity for reimagining the enterprise of physics today. Envisaged as spiritual exercise, ancient physics goes beyond a mere acquisition of ‘objective’ knowledge of nature towards the fashioning of human moral and spiritual transformation. Illustrating from Origen of Alexandria, I show that this vision of physics is principally grounded upon a metaphysics that unites all parts of nature, including human nature, into a single whole. This chapter argues that it is desirable to retrieve the ancient vision today not as a displacement of modern physics but through the re-invention of natural philosophy alongside it. This retrieval should give urgency to the task of rethinking the desirability of a comprehensive and unified metaphysical account of nature for today.

M3 - Book chapter

SN - 978-1-316-51792-5

SP - 282

EP - 298

BT - After Science and Religon

A2 - Harrison, Peter

A2 - Milbank, John

PB - Cambridge University Press

CY - Cambridge

ER -

ID: 370120934