During his lifetime, William Temple, Archbishop of Canterberry from 1942 to his death in 1944, wrote three major works. In Mens Creatrix, written in 1917, he seeks a unifying hypothesis that might bring together what he takes to be the...
moreDuring his lifetime, William Temple, Archbishop of Canterberry from 1942 to his death in 1944, wrote three major works. In Mens Creatrix, written in 1917, he seeks a unifying hypothesis that
might bring together what he takes to be the four basic sciences: Knowledge, Art, Morality, and Religion. In Christus Veritas, written in 1924, his task is similar but far more theological in tone, for here
he explicitly sets out to establish a Christocentric metaphysics. Nature, Man and God, Temple's Gifford Lectures, 1932 to 1934, is his last major work. In it Temple undertakes to establish the existence
of a transcendent God, and to show the vital part that such a premise must play in any attempt to comprehend the world as a rational whole. Nature, Man and God may be considered the fullest expression of Temples systematic philosophical thought and method. What follows is a critical analysis of Temple's perspective.
