On the Ontotheology of Nature

ABSTRACT

This article presents a study of the ontotheology of nature, a philosophical and theological approach that synthesizes ideas from ontotheology and the philosophy of nature. The ontotheology of nature is a secular and generalist program that integrates science, philosophy, and formal theology, particularly metaphysics, while also critically engaging with and transcending these disciplines by examining essential and foundational ontological concepts at the intersection of natural science and the philosophy of nature. Specifically, we focus on the relationship between the living organism and biology on the one hand, and the ontology of space, time, and assemblage on the other.

KEYWORDS:

• Philosophy of nature
• ontology
• ontotheology
• theology
• events
• space and time
• organism

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

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162 H. Weyl, Space, Time, Matter (New York: Dover Publications, 1952); R. Penrose, The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe (New York: Vintage Books, 2007).

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164 G. Simondon, Individuation in Light of Notions of Form and Information, Part I (University of Minnesota Press, 2020); B. Russell, The Analysis of Matter (Nottingham: Spokesman, 2007).

165 H. Dreisch, The Science and Philosophy of the Organism: The Gifford Lectures 1907 (London:& C. Black, Ltd., 1929); E. Husserl, Logical Investigations: Vol. 1 (London New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2001); Logical Investigations: Vol. 2 (London New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2001); J. Uexkull, Theoretische Biologie (Berlin: J. Springer, 1928).

166 A. Whitehead, Process and Reality: An Essay in Cosmology (New York: Free Press, 1978).

167 H. Weyl, Philosophy of Mathematics and Natural Science (Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press, 2009).

168 H. Weyl, Space, Time, Matter (New York: Dover Publications, 1952).

169 J. Monod, Chance and Necessity: An Essay on the National Philosophy of Modern Biology (London: Fontana, 1974); F. Jacob, The Logic of Life: A History of Heredity (Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press, 1993); R. Dawkins, The Selfish Gene (Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 2016); S. Weinberg, Dreams of a Final Theory (New York, NY: Random House, Dec. 1992).

170 J. Monod, Chance and Necessity: An Essay on the National Philosophy of Modern Biology (London: Fontana, 1974).

171 F. Jacob, The Logic of Life: A History of Heredity (Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press, 1993).

172 R. Dawkins, The Selfish Gene (Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 2016).

173 S. Weinberg, Dreams of a Final Theory (New York, NY: Random House, Dec. 1992).

174 F. Jacob, The Logic of Life: A History of Heredity (Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press, 1993).

175 H. Weyl, Space, Time, Matter (New York: Dover Publications, 1952).

176 A. Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Representation, Volume 1 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014); The World as Will and Representation, Volume 2 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020).

177 F. Nietzsche, The Will to Power (New York: Random House, 1967).

178 C. G. Jung, The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious (London: Routledge, 1990).

179 E. Hartmann, Philosophy of the Unconscious: Speculative Results According to the Inductive Method of Physical (Routledge, 2010).

180 G. Deleuze and F. Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1987); G. Deleuze and F. Guattari, What is Philosophy? (New York: Columbia University Press, 1994); Lucretius, The Nature of Things (New York: Norton, 1977).

181 G. Deleuze and F. Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1987).

182 G. Deleuze and F. Guattari, What is Philosophy? (New York: Columbia University Press, 1994); Lucretius, The Nature of Things (New York: Norton, 1977).

183 G. Leibniz, The Leibniz-Arnauld Correspondence: With Selections from the Correspondence with Ernst, Landgrave of Hessen-Rheinfels (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2016).

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185 G. Deleuze and F. Guattari, What is Philosophy? (New York: Columbia University Press, 1994).

186 S. Gould, The Structure of Evolutionary Theory (Cambridge, Mass: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2002).

187 H. Weyl, Space, Time, Matter (New York: Dover Publications, 1952); R. Penrose, The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe (New York: Vintage Books, 2007).

188 M. Heidegger, Kant and the Problem of Metaphysics (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1962).

189 M. Heidegger, The Basic Problems of Phenomenology (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1988).

190 M. Heidegger, History of the Concept of Time: Prolegomena (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1985); M. Heidegger, Being and Time (New York: HarperPerennial/Modern Thought, 2008).

191 J. Monod, Chance and Necessity: An Essay on the National Philosophy of Modern Biology (London: Fontana, 1974); F. Jacob, The Logic of Life: A History of Heredity (Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press, 1993).

192 S. Gould, The Structure of Evolutionary Theory (Cambridge, Mass: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2002).

193 Gould, The Structure of Evolutionary Theory.

194 M. Heidegger, What is a Thing? (Chicago: H. Regnery Co, 1968).

195 M. Heidegger, The Question Concerning Technology, and Other Essays (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2013).

196 G. Deleuze and F. Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1987).

197 T. Aquinas, Summa Theologica (Complete in a Single Volume) (Claremont, CA: Coyote Canyon Press, 2018).

198 R. Descartes, The Philosophical Writings of Descartes: Volume 1 (Cambridge University Press, 1985); The Philosophical Writings of Descartes: Volume 2 (Cambridge University Press, 1985); The Philosophical Writings of Descartes: Volume 3 (The Correspondence) (Cambridge University Press, 1993).

199 J. Lacan, Ecrits: The First Complete Edition in English (New York: Norton, 2006).

200 S. Gould, The Structure of Evolutionary Theory (Cambridge, Mass: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2002).

201 I. Newton, Isaac Newton: Philosophical Writings (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014); P. Fanning, Isaac Newton and the Transmutation of Alchemy: An Alternate View of the Scientific Revolution (Berkeley, Calif: North Atlantic Books, 2009).

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203 H. Weyl, Philosophy of Mathematics and Natural Science (Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press, 2009).

204 A. Eddington, The Nature of the Physical World (The Gifford Lectures: 1927) (Norderstedt: Books on Demand, 2019).

205 Plato, Timaeus and Critias (Oxford New York: Oxford University Press, 2008).

206 I. Kant, Critique of Pure Reason (Mineola, N.Y: Dover Publications, 2003); Metaphysical foundations of natural science (Cambridge, UK New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004).

207 G. Hegel, Hegel’s Philosophy of Nature: Being Part Two of the Encyclopaedia of the Philosophical Sciences (1830) 7 (Oxford New York: Clarendon Press, 2004); H. Jonas, The Science of Logic (Cambridge New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010).

208 E. Husserl, Ideas Pertaining to a Pure Phenomenology and to a Phenomenological Philosophy (The Hague Boston Hingham, MA, USA: M. Nijhoff Distributors, 1980); The Crisis of European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology: An Introduction to Phenomenological Philosophy (Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1970).

209 M. Heidegger, The Basic Problems of Phenomenology (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1988); Basic Writings: from Being and Time (1927) to The Task of thinking (1964) (New York: Harper Perennial Modern Thought, 2008).

210 T. Aquinas, Summa Theologica (Complete in a Single Volume) (Claremont, CA: Coyote Canyon Press, 2018).

211 G. Leibniz, Philosophical Papers and Letters (Dordrecht, Holland Boston: D. Reidel Pub. Co, 1976); G. Leibniz, The Labyrinth of the Continuum: Writings on the Continuum Problem, 1672–1686 (New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 2001).

212 G. Cantor, Contributions to the Founding of the Theory of Transfinite Numbers (New York: Dover Publications, 1955).

213 B. Russell, The Analysis of Matter (Nottingham: Spokesman, 2007).

214 G. Leibniz, Philosophical Papers and Letters (Dordrecht, Holland Boston: D. Reidel Pub. Co, 1976); R. Ruyer, Neofinalism (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2016); F. Guattari, The Machinic Unconscious: Essays in Schizoanalysis (Los Angeles, CA Cambridge, Mass: Semiotext(e) Distributed by the MIT Press, 2011); F. Guattari, Schizoanalytic Cartographies (London New York: Bloomsbury, 2013); G. Leibniz, The Labyrinth of the Continuum: Writings on the Continuum Problem, 1672–1686 (New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 2001); G. Leibniz, The Leibniz-Arnauld Correspondence: With Selections from the Correspondence with Ernst, Landgrave of Hessen-Rheinfels (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2016); F. Guattari, The Anti-Oedipus Papers (New York, NY Cambridge, Mass: Semiotext(e) Distributed by MIT Press, 2006).

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Said Mikki

Said Mikki is a scientist and philosopher. He is currently an associate professor of electrical engineering with the Zhejiang University/University of Illinois Urbana Champaign Institute, China, and the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, IL, USA. His current research interests include quantum technologies, electromagnetic theory, and the philosophy of nature.