An ''excellently composed'' curiosity: Father HoenenŐs twentieth-century philosophy of nature

In 1948, the eminent Dutch philosopher-logician Evert Willem Beth publishes a book entitled 'Natuurphilosophie'. In the book, the author discusses the course that philosophy of nature should take. He comments on existing philosophical theories and proposes a new, objective and anti-metaphysical approach, a philosophy that consists in giving logical analyses of scientific theories. So far, this is nothing remarkable. Beth can simply be seen as the Dutch representative of the international logical-positivist movement.

Nevertheless, there is something conspicuous about Natuurphilosophie. In the book, the author attacks one Petrus Hoenen, a contemporary Catholic philosopher. Although Hoenen is not the only one that is challenged in the work, his substantive role is striking. Only the founding fathers of philosophy and science are mentioned more often than he is; in every part of the book, Hoenen recurs. Who is this Petrus Hoenen? And why would a celebrated philosopher like Beth concern himself with some - mistaken - Catholic thinker? Why is Hoenen's philosophy important enough to criticize, even ten years after its first Dutch publication (1938)?

In my thesis, I tried to answer these questions. I considered Dutch early-twentieth-century culture, I analyzed both Hoenen's and Beth's works, I studied their respective backgrounds and I looked into the course of philosophy of nature and philosophy of science before, during and after the period of our main characters.

This colloquium will focus on one aspect of my exploration, namely the remarkable content of Hoenen's principal work 'Philosophie der anorganische Natur'. Though outdated, it contains an interesting and perhaps even inspiring philosophy which respects science while explicitly connecting it to metaphysics. It takes some time to get used to Hoenen's language and reasoning, but aptly being described as ''excellently composed'' by Eduard Jan Dijksterhuis, the book is still worth our effort.