Glenn, Cosmology, 1941
Cosmology
The philosophy of nature. Matter and form, change, causality, and the constitution of the physical world.
Theological counterpart: Creation & the Supernatural Order
Glenn, Cosmology
17 chapters Ch. 0 Ch. 1 Ch. 1 Ch. 1 Ch. 2 Ch. 2 Ch. 2 Ch. 2 Ch. 1 Ch. 1 Ch. 2 Ch. 2 Ch. 1 Ch. 1 Ch. 2 Ch. 2 Ch. 2
Introduction
Definition, name, object, importance, and division of Cosmology as a philosophical science of natural bodily being.
The Marks of Bodily Being
The consistent properties or marks of bodies: extension, impenetrability, mobility, and divisibility; the world as distinct from God.
The Quantity of Bodies
Meaning and kinds of quantity; properties of quantity; space and time as they relate to bodily being.
The Activity of Bodies
Meaning, classification, and nature of the activity of bodies; efficient causality and the action of bodies upon one another.
Monism
Monism as the theory that all reality is one substance; its principal forms and refutation.
Atomism
Atomism ancient and modern; the claim that bodies are composed of indivisible particles; its merits and deficiencies.
Dynamism
Dynamism as the theory that bodies are constituted by forces alone without extended matter; its forms and critique.
Hylomorphism
Hylomorphism — the scholastic doctrine that every natural body is constituted by primary matter and substantial form — its meaning, tenets, and vindication.
Creation
Creation ex nihilo: its meaning, proof from reason and faith, and refutation of materialistic and pantheistic alternatives.
The Age of the World
The philosophical and theological question of the age of the world; the eternity of matter; compatibility of creation with science.
Movement in the World
The nature of movement or local motion; its kinds; the first mover argument and the necessity of an unmoved mover.
The Formation of the World
How the world developed its present form: evolution, its kinds, and the limits set by philosophy and faith.
Final Causality
Meaning and kinds of final causes; proof that finality is real and intrinsic to natural bodies; objections answered.
The Ultimate End of Creation
Types of ends; the hierarchy of proximate and ultimate ends; proof that God is the one absolutely ultimate end of all creation.
Nature
The philosophical meaning of nature in the broad and strict senses; nature as an intrinsic principle of motion and rest.
The Laws of Nature
The meaning of natural law; the constancy and universality of nature's laws; physical determinism and contingency.
Miracles
Meaning and kinds of miracles; their possibility given divine omnipotence; criteria for identifying genuine miracles.