Laudato Si’ and the Natural Sciences: An Assessment of Possibilities and Limits

This article probes the explicit use of the natural sciences in Laudato Si’, examining in particular its engagement with environmental science and modern technologies in the light of Catholic social teaching on the environment and broader theological engagement with ecology. What are the particular philosophical presuppositions and theological emphases that this encyclical brings to its analysis of the natural world and how do they inform its specific engagement with ecology and science? The article analyzes aspects of contemporary scientific discussion that are particularly relevant for the themes of the encyclical and whose inclusion would have made this an even more convincing document. It also highlights specific philosophical, scientific, and conceptual inconsistencies that have arisen as a result of combining different scientific and theological themes.