Relacja materii i ruchu w ujęciu Tadeusza Wojciechowskiego i Alberta Mitterera

In the middle of the twentieth century a major controversy arose in Polish philosophy over the problem of the actuality of the cosmological proof of God’s existence. Tadeusz Wojciechowski, a young priest and freshly graduated Ph.D. in philosophy, pointed out that it was the mutual relation of philosophy and physics which played the crucial role in the proper assessment of the question. In his opinion, the traditional version of the proof was no longer valid due to the discoveries of modern physics which proved that motion is an inherent attribute of matter. Consequently, he insisted on introducing a third element – a particle act – into the Aristotelian concept of potency and act. Surprisingly, none of the scholars involved in the controversy have ever mentioned the works of an Austrian philosopher and theologian Albert Mitterer, who discussed the same topic twenty years earlier. Since his views seem to be complementary to Wojciechowski’s concept, they were also included in the article. Finally, a brief review was added of how contemporary physics confirms the theories of the two philosophers.