Plants, Aliens, and Aristotle

Over the last few decades, thinkers within religiously oriented philosophical traditions have done significant work showing how these traditions are consistent with contemporary natural science. It’s been conclusively shown that there is good reason not to be either a diehard naturalist (like the “new atheists”) or a creationist fundamentalist. Still, the question of how best to bring together traditional and scientific claims can be tricky. Views rooted in the Judeo-Christian tradition or in ancient philosophy tend to see the world as populated by things with unchanging, God-given essences or natures. Contemporary natural science, by contrast, tends to see the world as populated by changing, evolving, historically contingent things without fixed natures. While these views probably aren’t irreconcilably opposed, reconciling them is nevertheless a challenge.