From Physics & Metaphysics to Magic & Religion in the Greco-Roman World: Historical Thought Impact o

The Physics and Engineering Department  at Wheaton College presents "From Physics & Metaphysics to Magic & Religion in the Greco-Roman World:  Historical Thought Impact on Current Thinking," a lecture by Dr. Ori Z Soltes on Thursday, April 16, 2026 at 7:00 PM.

This talk explores the interesting wrestling match with certain important words and their underlying concepts, from how the ancient Greeks distinguished physics from metaphysics from ethics and sophistry from philosophy to how the Romans distinguished philosophy and medicine and science from magic, and superstition from religion. How did these terms evolve to convey which underlying concepts? What were the implications for everyday people’s lives? And then: how did all this help shape the sweep of Western history between antiquity and the modern era? And how did what they meant lead to what we mean—or think we mean—when we use these terms? And what are the implications for our own future—of how we relate a past more complicated than they teach us in Sunday School to the present?

The McIntyre Lecture series exists to promote understanding of the purposes and limits of science by examining historical and philosophical influences.  

Dr. Ori Z Soltes teaches at Georgetown University across the disciplines of art theology, philosophy, art history, and political history. He has authored or edited 32 books and several hundred articles and exhibition catalogue essays, including, recently, "Eros and Eris: Love and Strife in and beyond Greco-Roman World" and "The Problem of God and How Humans Have Tried to Solve It Across History."  

This event is free and open to the public and will take place in Meyer Science Center,   Room 145 Buyse Lecture Hall,   located at 430 Howard Street in Wheaton. For more information, contact Mary Carrington at 630.752.5007 or mary.carrington@wheaton.edu.