Can you please tell me when and how you came to know Fr. Jaki and/or his work?
I was introduced to the person and work of Fr Stanley Jaki through Father Paul Haffner who was the second reader of my doctoral thesis in philosophy. I discovered since then many common interests with Father Jaki, including mathematics, the exact sciences, philosophy and theology.
What would you highlight from Jaki’s work that you consider to be very relevant in today’s world?
Perhaps what strikes me the most about Father Jaki’s work is his unflinching conviction in the compatibility of science and Christian faith and their mutual cooperation in attaining the truth. At the same time, this compatibility was not to be found in generalities or facile irenicism, but rather through a detailed knowledge of the respective fields. In this sense, Jaki motivates ongoing discovery in science and in theology, in contraposition to merely entrenched solutions.
What do you think is the reason why Jaki is being rediscovered today?
Modern culture seems to run away from the difficult task of interdisciplinary dialogue and reasoning, yet is subtly fascinated when public intellectuals are able to engage in such discourse. The ability to deliver arguments using the state of the art in evidence, theory and spirituality is a much appreciated antidote to sterile labeling or power discourses.
How is your research area related to Jaki’s work?
Besides organizing the efforts of the Institute for Science and Faith in Rome, I am personally engaged in research and teaching in the contemporary themes of evolutionary theory, neurophilosophy and philosophy of information.
Prof. Alex Judson Yeung, L.C., was born in Illinois, U.S., and graduated with degrees in Mathematics (Computer science) and Music from the University of Waterloo, Canada. He then studied philosophy and theology at the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical Athenaeum in Rome. Ordained a priest in 2003, he obtained his PhD in philosophy in 2011 on the philosophical anthropology of the Étienne Gilson: “Imago Dei Creatoris, Ètienne Gilson’s “Essay on the Interior Life” and its seminal influence”. Father Yeung is currently professor of philosophy at the Regina Apostolorum in Rome. Having completed three terms as Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy from 2015 to 2023, he is currently Director of the Science and Faith Institute. His areas of specialization include philosophical anthropology, philosophy of religion, Thomas Aquinas, and Christian philosophy. With the Science and Faith Institute, Fr Yeung researches and teaches courses on evolution, neurophilosophy and philosophy of information.