The Thomistic Institute Podcast
The Thomistic Institute Podcast
The Thomistic Institute exists to promote Catholic truth in our contemporary world by strengthening the intellectual formation of Christians at universities, in the Church, and in the wider public square. The thought of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Universal Doctor of the Church, is our touchstone. The Thomistic Institute Podcast features the lectures and talks from our conferences, campus chapters events, intellectual retreats, livestream events,  and much more.  Founded in 2009, the Thomistic Institute is part of the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC.
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Oct. 16, 2025

How the Highest of the Inanimate Touches the Lowest of the Living: A Contemporary Thomistic Approach – Fr. Thomas Davenport, O.P.

How the Highest of the Inanimate Touches the Lowest of the Living: A Contemporary Thomistic Approach – Fr. Thomas Davenport, O.P.
The Thomistic Institute Podcast
How the Highest of the Inanimate Touches the Lowest of the Living: A Contemporary Thomistic Approach – Fr. Thomas Davenport, O.P.

Fr. Thomas Davenport examines the philosophical and scientific boundaries between the inanimate and the living, highlighting how Thomistic principles, spontaneous generation, and structured homogeneity offer new ways to understand life’s emergence and complexity.

Season 12 Conferences Philosophy

Fr. Thomas Davenport examines the philosophical and scientific boundaries between the inanimate and the living, highlighting how Thomistic principles, spontaneous generation, and structured homogeneity offer new ways to understand life’s emergence and complexity.

This lecture was given on July 19th, 2025, at Dominican House of Studies.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speakers:

Fr. Thomas Davenport, O.P., is professor of philosophy at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, where he teaches philosophy of nature and epistemology. He has written and spoken on the relationship of faith and science in a variety of venues, including being a main contributor to the Thomistic Evolution project. He was ordained to the priesthood in 2017 and is working on his second PhD in philosophy.

Keywords: Abiogenesis, Aristotle’s Four Elements, Biological Complexity, David Oderberg, Emergence, Homogeneity, Integral Parts, Scala Natura, Spontaneous Generation, Structured Elementarity

Fr. Thomas Davenport, O.P.