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Science, Catholicism and politics in Argentina (1910–1935)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2020

MIGUEL DE ASÚA
MIGUEL DE ASÚA*
Affiliation:
Universidad Nacional de San Martín, Argentina. Email: [email protected].
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Abstract

In fin de siècle Argentina a secularist ideology of science was part of the positivist world view espoused by liberals and socialists. Between the years 1910 and 1935, a period in which the Catholic Church experienced a significant cultural expansion, the activities of the Catholic naturalist Ángel Gallardo and the astronomer and priest Fortunato Devoto challenged the so far prevailing idea of science as opposed to religion. This paper explores the connections between the scientific, religious and political aspects of those figures in order to get some insights into the complexity of the relationships between science and secularization in societies with a Catholic majority.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal for the History of Science , Volume 53 , Issue 2 , June 2020 , pp. 139 - 158
Copyright
Copyright © British Society for the History of Science 2020

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Footnotes

This paper is part of a research project on science and religion in Argentina which I am conducting as member of Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. I appreciate the perceptive comments of one of the anonymous referees and the overall assessment of the editor of the BJHS, Amanda Rees, which certainly helped to improve the original manuscript. I would also like to thank Trish Hatton for her untiring help throughout the process of evaluation. I remain obliged to the staff of the following institutions for their helpful assistance: Archive and Library of Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales (Ms Marta del Priore); Biblioteca Nacional (Argentina) (Department of Ancient Periodicals); Library of Asociación Amigos de la Astronomía (Ms Paula Martín); Library of Instituto de Cultura Religiosa Superior; Library of Colegio San José (Mr Oscar Palmyero); Library of Congress (Ms Malea Walker, Serial and Government Publications Division); Library of the School of Theology and Central Library of Universidad Católica Argentina; Library of Facultades de Filosofía y Teología, Colegio Máximo (San Miguel, Buenos Aires); Museo de Astronomía y Geofísica, Universidad Nacional de La Plata.

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106 As can be seen in the papers published in the socialist magazine La Universidad Popular between 1905 and 1907.

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114 Congreso Nacional, op. cit. (113), vol. 2, p. 29.

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