The Natural and the Artificial – Prof. Christopher Frey

The Thomistic Institute

Prof. Christopher Frey examines the distinctions and interactions between natural and artificial entities, showing how art can complete, imitate, or even subvert nature within Aristotelian and Thomistic frameworks.

This lecture was given on May 30th, 2025, at Mount Saint Mary College.

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About the Speakers:

Christopher Frey is currently the McFarlin Professor of Philosophy at The University of Tulsa. Prof. Frey works primarily in Ancient Greek philosophy, especially Aristotle’s natural philosophy and metaphysics. He also works in contemporary philosophy of perception and mind and has written extensively on the relationship between the intentionality and phenomenality of perceptual experience.

Keywords: Agriculture, Anthropocentrism, Aristotelianism, City-Building, Completion of Nature, External Principle, Homonymy, Natural Substance, Republic, Techne