Wolfgang Smith

Infobox Philosopher
region = Western philosophy
era = 20th century philosophy
color = lightsteelblue

---

image_size = 150px
image_caption = Replaceable placeholder image.
name = J. Wolfgang Smith
birth = Birth year and age|1930
school_tradition = Realism, Platonism, Neoplatonism, Aristotelianism, Neo-Scholasticism, Traditionalism
main_interests = Metaphysics, Physics, Mathematics, Philosophy of science
notable_ideas = Completely splitting the scientific method from the scientistic philosophy; showing how the former can be joined to a thomistic-based ontological realism; assigning to many hard sciences a place in such an ontological hierarchy.
influences = Aristotle, Alfred North Whitehead, Thomas Aquinas, René Guénon
influenced = Olavo de Carvalho
box_width = 26em

Wolfgang Smith (born 1930) is a mathematician, physicist, philosopher of science, metaphysician, Roman catholic and member of the Traditionalist School. He has written extensively in the field of differential geometry, as a critic of Scientism and as a proponent of a new interpretation of quantum mechanics that draws heavily from medieval ontology and realism.

Biography

Smith graduated in 1948 from Cornell University with a B.A. in Philosophy, Physics and Mathematics. Two years later he obtained his M.S. in Physics from Purdue University, and some time later a Ph.D in Mathematics from Columbia University.

He worked as a physicist in Bell Aircraft corporation, researching aerodynamics and the problem of atmospheric reentry,Fact|date=April 2008 and as a Mathematics professor at MIT, UCLA and Oregon State University, doing research in the field of differential geometry and publishing in academic journals such as the "Transactions of the American Mathematical Society", the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences", the "American Journal of Mathematics" and others. He retired from academic life in 1992.

In parallel with his academic duties he developed and still develops philosophical inquiries in the fields of Metaphysics and Philosophy of science, publishing on specialized journals such as "The Thomist" and "Sophia: The Journal of Traditional Studies".

Philosophy

Smith is a member of the Traditionalist School of Metaphysics, having contributed extensively to its criticism of modernity while exploring the philosophical underpinnings of the scientific method and emphasizing the idea of bringing science back into the Aristotlean framework of traditional ontological realism.

Identifying with Alfred North Whitehead's criticism of Scientism's "bifurcationism" and "physical reductionism", i.e., the belief that, first, the qualitative properties of the objects of perception (the "corporeal objects") are ultimately distinct from the their respective quantitative properties (the "physical objects" studied by the different sciences), and second, that the physical objects are "in fact" all there is, meaning the corporeal objects are reduced to their physical counterparts, Smith examines critically in his work "Cosmos and Transcendence" (1984) the Cartesian roots of modern physical sciences.

Proceeding from his critique of Scientism, in his "The Quantum Enigma" (1995) Smith poses the questions of whether the scientific method is actually dependent on the Scientistic philosophy and, if it isn't, whether linking it to other philosophical frameworks would provide better solutions to the way we interpret physical phenomena. Demonstrating that in no case either the scientific method or its results depend upon or require adhering to a scientistic metaphysics, he answers in the positive to the first question, with the end result that it's possible to link the scientific method to any underlying metaphysics, or to none at all. Working then into the second question, he proposes linking the scientific method, thus the modern sciences, to a non-bifurcationist, non-reductionist metaphysics in the form of a modified thomistic ontology, showing how such a move can provide a positive outcome by solving the apparent incoherences perceived in Quantum Mechanics' phenomena.

According to Smith, such an interpretation of quantum mechanics allows for the usage of the hylomorphic concepts of act and potential to properly understand Quantum superpositions. For example, instead of considering that a photon is simultaneously a wave and a particle, or a particle in two distinct position, and other counterintuitive constructs, one would consider that the photon (or any other "physical object") at first doesn't exist "in act", but only "in potency", i.e, as "matter" in the hylomorphic meaning of the word, having the "potential" of becoming a wave, or a particle, or of being here or there etc. Whether one of these outcomes will happen to this undifferentiated matter is dependent on the determination imposed upon it by the macroscopic "corporeal object" that provides to it its "actualization". A photon, thus, would be no more strange for having many potentials than, say, an individual who has the "superimposed" potentials of learning French and/or Spanish and/or Greek, all the while reading and/or walking and/or stretching his arms etc. And a further consequence of such an interpretation would be a corporeal and its related physical objects aren't dichotomized or reduced one to the other anymore, but quite the opposite, they all together constitute a whole of which different aspects are dealt with depending on perspective.

Smith's understanding of the relationship between corporeal and physical objects extend to his interpretation of biology, where be has become an opponent of Darwinian evolution, as the fundamental element in a species would be its form, not its causal history, which evolutionists favor. This leads him to be a supporter of the intelligent design movement, even though the hylomorphic approach itself isn't widely adopted by the mainstream intelligent designers, who also favor causal history, even though differently from evolutionists.

Bibliography

Books

Books written by Wolfgang Smith or including his contributions:

* cite book
authorlink = Wolfgang Smith
title=Cosmos and Transcendence: Breaking Through the Barrier of Scientistic Belief
year=1984
publisher=Sherwood Sugden and Company
location=Peru, IL
oclc = 12945771
isbn=0893850284

* cite book
authorlink = Wolfgang Smith
title=Teilhardism and the New Religion: A Thorough Analysis of the Teachings of Pierre Teilhard De Chardin
year=1988
publisher=TAN Books & Publishers
location=Rockford, IL
oclc = 19648994
isbn=0895553155

* cite book
authorlink = Wolfgang Smith
title=The Quantum Enigma: Finding the Hidden Key
year=1995
publisher=Sherwood Sugden and Company
location=Peru, IL
oclc = 33200608
isbn=089385042X

* cite book
authorlink = Wolfgang Smith
title=The Wisdom of Ancient Cosmology: Contemporary Science in Light of Tradition
year=2003
publisher=The Foundation for Traditional Studies
location=Oakton, VA
oclc = 54398541
isbn=0962998478

* cite book
authorlink = Wolfgang Smith
editor=Mehrdad M. Zarandi (ed.)
title=Science and the Myth of Progress
series = The Perennial Philosophy Series
accessdate=2008-04-27
year=2004
publisher=World Wisdom
location=Bloomington, IN
oclc = 52165739
isbn=094153247X
chapter=The Plague of Scientistic Belief
chapterurl = http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.catholic.net/rcc/Periodicals/HPR/April%25202000/belief.html&date=2008-04-27

* cite book
authorlink = Wolfgang Smith
editor=Harry Oldmeadow (ed.)
title=The Betrayal of Tradition: Essays on the Spiritual Crisis of Modernity
series = The Perennial Philosophy Series
year=2005
publisher=World Wisdom
location=Bloomington, IN
oclc = 56599559
isbn=0941532550
chapter='Progress' in Retrospect

Articles

General

Articles on philosophy, religion, physics and non-mathematical subjects in general:

* cite journal
quotes = no
authorlink = Wolfgang Smith
year=1999
month = January
title=From Schrödinger's Cat to Thomistic Ontology
journal = The Thomist
volume = 63
issue = 1
pages=pp. 49-63
url=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.thomist.org/jour/1999/991aSmit.htm&date=2008-04-27
accessdate=2008-04-27
format=fee required
publisher=The Dominican Province of Saint Joseph
location=Washington, DC
issn = 0040-6325
oclc = 1645845

* cite journal
quotes = no
authorlink = Wolfgang Smith
year=1999
month = Summer
title=Celestial Corporeality
journal = Sophia: The Journal of Traditional Studies
volume = 5
issue = 1
publisher=The Foundation for Traditional Studies
location=Oakton, VA
issn = 1521-1231
oclc = 39708929

* cite journal
quotes = no
authorlink = Wolfgang Smith
year=2000
month = April
title=The plague of scientistic belief
url=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.catholic.net/rcc/Periodicals/HPR/April%25202000/belief.html&date=2008-04-27
accessdate=2008-04-27
journal = Homiletic and Pastoral Review
publisher=Ignatius Press
location=San Francisco, CA
issn = 0018-4268
oclc = 5739991

* cite journal
quotes = no
authorlink = Wolfgang Smith
year=2000
month = Summer
title=The Extrapolated Universe
journal = Sophia: The Journal of Traditional Studies
volume = 6
issue = 1
publisher=The Foundation for Traditional Studies
location=Oakton, VA
issn = 1521-1231
oclc = 39708929

* cite journal
quotes = no
authorlink = Wolfgang Smith
year=2000
month = Winter
title=Eddington and the Primacy of the Corporeal
journal = Sophia: The Journal of Traditional Studies
volume = 6
issue = 2
publisher=The Foundation for Traditional Studies
location=Oakton, VA
issn = 1521-1231
oclc = 39708929

* cite journal
quotes = no
authorlink = Wolfgang Smith
year=2001
month = Summer
title=Science and Myth: the Hidden Connection
journal = Sophia: The Journal of Traditional Studies
volume = 7
issue = 1
publisher=The Foundation for Traditional Studies
location=Oakton, VA
issn = 1521-1231
oclc = 39708929

* cite journal
quotes = no
authorlink = Wolfgang Smith
year=2001
month = Winter
title=The Pitfall of Astrophysical Cosmology
journal = Sophia: The Journal of Traditional Studies
volume = 7
issue = 2
publisher=The Foundation for Traditional Studies
location=Oakton, VA
issn = 1521-1231
oclc = 39708929

* cite journal
quotes = no
authorlink = Wolfgang Smith
year=2002
month = Summer
title=Esoterism and Cosmology: From Ptolomy to Dante and Cusanus
journal = Sophia: The Journal of Traditional Studies
volume = 8
issue = 1
publisher=The Foundation for Traditional Studies
location=Oakton, VA
issn = 1521-1231
oclc = 39708929

* cite journal
quotes = no
authorlink = Wolfgang Smith
year=2003
month = Winter
title=Modern Science and Guénonian Critique
journal = Sophia: The Journal of Traditional Studies
volume = 9
issue = 2
publisher=The Foundation for Traditional Studies
location=Oakton, VA
issn = 1521-1231
oclc = 39708929

* cite journal
quotes = no
authorlink = Wolfgang Smith
year=2004
month = Summer
title=The Enigma of Visual Perception
journal = Sophia: The Journal of Traditional Studies
volume = 10
issue = 1
publisher=The Foundation for Traditional Studies
location=Oakton, VA
issn = 1521-1231
oclc = 39708929

* cite journal
quotes = no
authorlink = Wolfgang Smith
year=2004
month = Winter
title=Neurons and Mind
journal = Sophia: The Journal of Traditional Studies
volume = 10
issue = 2
publisher=The Foundation for Traditional Studies
location=Oakton, VA
issn = 1521-1231
oclc = 39708929

* cite journal
quotes = no
authorlink = Wolfgang Smith
year=2005
month = Summer
title=Review of "Journeys East", by Harry Oldmeadow
journal = Sophia: The Journal of Traditional Studies
volume = 11
issue = 1
publisher=The Foundation for Traditional Studies
location=Oakton, VA
issn = 1521-1231
oclc = 39708929

* cite journal
quotes = no
authorlink = Wolfgang Smith
year=2006
month = Fall/Winter
title=Rama P. Coomaraswamy 1929-2006: In Memoriam
journal = Sophia: The Journal of Traditional Studies
volume = 12
issue = 2
publisher=The Foundation for Traditional Studies
location=Oakton, VA
issn = 1521-1231
oclc = 39708929

* cite journal
quotes = no
authorlink = Wolfgang Smith
year=2006
month = Fall/Winter
title=Cosmology in the Face of Gnosis
journal = Sophia: The Journal of Traditional Studies
volume = 12
issue = 2
publisher=The Foundation for Traditional Studies
location=Oakton, VA
issn = 1521-1231
oclc = 39708929

* cite journal
quotes = no
authorlink = Wolfgang Smith
year=2007
month = Spring/Summer
title=Transcending the "creatio ex nihilo": The Kabbalistic Exegesis
journal = Sophia: The Journal of Traditional Studies
volume = 13
issue = 1
publisher=The Foundation for Traditional Studies
location=Oakton, VA
issn = 1521-1231
oclc = 39708929

* cite journal
quotes = no
authorlink = Wolfgang Smith
year=2007-2008
month = Winter
title=The Wisdom of Christian Kabbalah
journal = Sophia: The Journal of Traditional Studies
volume = 13
issue = 2
publisher=The Foundation for Traditional Studies
location=Oakton, VA
issn = 1521-1231
oclc = 39708929

Mathematics

Academic articles on mathematics signed as "J. Wolfgang Smith":

* cite journal
quotes = no
authorlink = Wolfgang Smith
year=1959
month = June
title=On Integration of Quasi-Linear Parabolic Equations By Explicit Difference Methods
journal = Transactions of the American Mathematical Society
volume = 91
issue = 3
pages=pp. 425-443
publisher=American Mathematical Society
location=Providence, RI
issn = 0002-9947
oclc = 1480369
doi = 10.2307/1993257
url=http://www.jstor.org/pss/1993257
format=fee required

* cite journal
quotes = no
authorlink = Wolfgang Smith
date=January 15, 1960
title=Fundamental Groups on a Lorentz Manifold
journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
volume = 46
issue = 1
pages=pp. 111-114
publisher=United States National Academy of Sciences
location=Washington, DC
issn = 0027-8424
oclc = 43473694
doi = 10.2307/70809
url=http://www.jstor.org/pss/70809
format=fee requiredThe associated DOI link doesn't work, even though it's referred in the article's meta data. It has already been reported to [http://dx.doi.org/ DOI] and should be working again in a few days.]

* cite journal
quotes = no
authorlink = Wolfgang Smith
year=1960
month = May
title=Lorentz Structures on the Plane
journal = Transactions of the American Mathematical Society
volume = 95
issue = 2
pages=pp. 226-237
publisher=American Mathematical Society
location=Providence, RI
issn = 0002-9947
oclc = 1480369
doi = 10.2307/1993288
url=http://www.jstor.org/pss/1993288
format=fee required

* cite journal
quotes = no
authorlink = Wolfgang Smith
year=1960
month = October
title=Fundamental Groups on a Lorentz Manifold
journal = American Journal of Mathematics
volume = 82
issue = 4
pages=pp. 873-890
publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press
location=Baltimore, MD
issn = 0002-9327
oclc = 31863589
doi = 10.2307/2372946
url=http://www.jstor.org/pss/2372946
format=Reprint, fee required

* cite journal
quotes = no
authorlink = Wolfgang Smith
coauthors = Clifton, Yeaton H.
date=February 15, 1961
title=The Category of Topological Objects
journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
volume = 47
issue = 2
pages=pp. 190-195
publisher=United States National Academy of Sciences
location=Washington, DC
issn = 0027-8424
oclc = 43473694
doi = 10.2307/70719
url=http://www.jstor.org/pss/70719
format=fee requiredWith Yeaton H. Clifton.]

* cite journal
quotes = no
authorlink = Wolfgang Smith
coauthors = Clifton, Yeaton H.
year=1962
month = December
title=Topological Objects and Sheaves
journal = Transactions of the American Mathematical Society
volume = 105
issue = 3
pages=pp. 436-452
publisher=American Mathematical Society
location=Providence, RI
issn = 0002-9947
oclc = 1480369
doi = 10.2307/1993730
url=http://www.jstor.org/pss/1993730
format=fee required

* cite journal
quotes = no
authorlink = Wolfgang Smith
coauthors = Clifton, Yeaton H.
date=November 15, 1963
title=The Euler Class as an Obstruction in the Theory of Foliations
journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
volume = 50
issue = 5
pages=pp. 949-954
publisher=United States National Academy of Sciences
location=Washington, DC
issn = 0027-8424
oclc = 43473694
doi = 10.2307/71949
url=http://www.jstor.org/pss/71949
format=fee required

* cite journal
quotes = no
authorlink = Wolfgang Smith
year=1966
title=The de Rham theorem for general spaces
journal = Tohoku Mathematical Journal (2nd Series)
volume = 18
issue = 2
pages=pp. 115-137
publisher=Maruzen Co.
location=Sendai, Japan
issn = 0040-8735
oclc = 1642556
doi = 10.2748/tmj/1178243443
id=Zbl|0146.19402. MR|0202154
url=http://projecteuclid.org/euclid.tmj/1178243443
format=PDF, fee required

* cite journal
quotes = no
authorlink = Wolfgang Smith
year=1968
title=An exact sequence for submersions
journal = Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society
volume = 74
issue = 2
pages=pp. 233-236
publisher=American Mathematical Society
location=Providence, RI
issn = 0002-9904
oclc = 4672985
doi = 10.1090/S0002-9904-1968-11899-3
id=MR|0221512
url=http://www.ams.org/bull/1968-74-02/S0002-9904-1968-11899-3/S0002-9904-1968-11899-3.pdf
format=PDF

* cite journal
quotes = no
authorlink = Wolfgang Smith
year=1969
title=Commuting vectorfields on open manifolds
journal = Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society
volume = 75
issue = 5
pages=pp. 1013-1016
publisher=American Mathematical Society
location=Providence, RI
issn = 0002-9904
oclc = 4672985
doi = 10.1090/S0002-9904-1969-12343-8
id=Zbl|0179.52002. MR|0248867
url=http://www.ams.org/bull/1969-75-05/S0002-9904-1969-12343-8/S0002-9904-1969-12343-8.pdf
format=PDF

* cite journal
quotes = no
authorlink = Wolfgang Smith
year=1980
title=A homology spectral sequence for submersions
journal = Pacific Journal of Mathematics
volume = 89
issue = 2
pages=pp. 279-299
publisher=Pacific Journal of Mathematics
location=Berkeley, CA
issn = 0030-8730
oclc = 1761678
id=Zbl|0472.55015. MR|599121
url=http://projecteuclid.org/DPubS/Repository/1.0/Disseminate?handle=euclid.pjm/1102779241&view=body&content-type=pdf_1
format=PDFWith Patrick C. Endicott.]

* cite journal
quotes = no
authorlink = Wolfgang Smith
year=1980
title=Fiber homology and orientability of maps
journal = Pacific Journal of Mathematics
volume = 89
issue = 2
pages=pp. 453-470
publisher=Pacific Journal of Mathematics
location=Berkeley, CA
issn = 0030-8730
oclc = 1761678
id=Zbl|0467.55019. MR|599133
url=http://projecteuclid.org/DPubS/Repository/1.0/Disseminate?handle=euclid.pjm/1102779253&view=body&content-type=pdf_1
format=PDF

See also

* Quantum mechanics
* Philosophy of physics
* Interpretation of quantum mechanics
* Philosophical realism
* Neo-Scholasticism
* Perennial philosophy
* Traditionalist School

References

* cite web
url=http://mac.abc.se/home/onesr/ez/dc/poqp_e.html
title=A Review Essay of Wolfgang Smith's "The Quantum Enigma: Finding the Hidden Key"
last=Nasr
first=Seyyed Hossein
authorlink = Seyyed Hossein Nasr
date=2005-01-06
work= [http://mac.abc.se/home/onesr/ Islamic Resources]
publisher= [http://www.livingislam.org Living Islam]
archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://mac.abc.se/home/onesr/ez/dc/poqp_e.html&date=2008-04-25
archivedate=2008-04-25

* cite book
last=Wallace
first=William A.
title=The Modeling of Nature: Philosophy of Science and Philosophy of Nature in Synthesis
year=1997
month = January
publisher=Catholic University of America Press
location=Washington, DC
oclc = 34284430
isbn=0813208602

* cite journal
last=Wallace
first=William A.
quotes = no
year=1997
month = July
title=Thomism and the Quantum Enigma
journal = The Thomist
volume = 61
issue = 3
pages=pp. 455-468
url=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.thomist.org/jour/1997/973AWall.htm&date=2008-04-27
accessdate=2008-04-27
format=fee required
publisher=The Dominican Province of Saint Joseph
location=Washington, DC
issn = 0040-6325
oclc = 1645845

* cite web
url=http://www.innerexplorations.com/philtext/an.htm
title=An Interview with Wolfgang Smith on Science and Philosophy
work= [http://www.innerexplorations.com/philtext/the1.htm The Philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas in the Light of Jacques Maritain]
publisher= [http://www.innerexplorations.com Inner Explorations]
archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.innerexplorations.com/philtext/an.htm&date=2008-04-25
archivedate=2008-04-25

* cite web
url=http://www.worldwisdom.com/Public/Authors/Detail.asp?AuthorID=62
title=Wolfgang Smith: Life and Work
publisher=World Wisdom
archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.worldwisdom.com/Public/Authors/Detail.asp?AuthorID=62&date=2008-04-25
archivedate=2008-04-25

Persondata
NAME = Smith, Wolfgang
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION = Mathematician and philosopher of science
DATE OF BIRTH = 1930
PLACE OF BIRTH =
DATE OF DEATH =
PLACE OF DEATH =