Abstract

This book contains twenty-seven essays prepared for a 1961 conference at Notre Dame, and also includes comments on several of the papers by participants of the conference. The essays trace the concept of matter from its origin in Greek and Medieval philosophy through its function in seventeenth-century science to its current scientific and philosophical status. The essays can stand by themselves, in some cases as useful historical surveys, in other cases as presentations of new ideas or defenses of current viewpoints. However, they are also part of a larger whole; from the confrontation of a variety of philosophic approaches and specialties there emerges a surprisingly unified picture of the evolution of a concept. At the same time, the book is also a study in the different ways in which any explanatory concept can function. Inevitably, the confrontation is not wholly successful; some of the essays are so specialized that it is difficult to relate them to the rest of the book. However, the inclusion of comments and transcribed informal discussion from the conference helps to maintain a sense of dialogue, and the editor contributes a perceptive introduction in which he brings together some themes which run throughout the book.—P. F. L.