Born May 1, 1881, in Sarcenat, Puy-de-Dôme, near Clermont-Ferrand; died Apr. 10, 1955, in New York City. French paleontologist, philosopher, and theologian. Member of the Paris Academy of Sciences (1950).

Teilhard de Chardin began his studies at a Jesuit college in 1899. From 1920 to 1923 he was a professor at the Catholic Institute of Paris. As a result of a conflict between his views and official Catholic doctrine, Teilhard was removed from his teaching position and was prohibited from publishing his philosophical works. Teilhard lived in China from 1923 to 1946. He carried on geological, paleontological, and archaeological research in China, India, Burma, Java, and elsewhere.

Teilhard was one of the original discoverers of the Peking Man (Sinanthropus pekinenis). Drawing on the achievements of modern science, he attempted to create an integral world view, “scientific phenomenology,” in which the conflict between science and religion is supposed to be eliminated. His chief methodological principle is the concept of evolution, to which he gives a teleological interpretation. He depicts the evolution of the universe (cosmogenesis) as a series of stages in the growing complexity of a single substance, the “stuff of the universe,” which represents a modification of a special radial energy having a psychic nature. The ultimate goal and, at the same time, the regulator of cosmogenesis is the “Omega point,” the spiritual center that influences the course of things through radial energy that is manifested as a form of divine grace.

Teilhard sees the key to understanding the evolution of the universe in “the phenomenon of man.” Man is the summit of evolution that is directed into the future. In transforming matter, man becomes included in the creation of evolution. According to Teilhard, the history of humanity is the crowning stage of cosmogenesis. The prerequisite of the history of humanity is “personalization,” the appearance of personality and thought, and the formation of the noosphere (an ideal, spiritual layer, or “skin,” surrounding the earth). The further improvement of evolution is possible only on a collective basis. Technological progress and economic development are prerequisites for this process, but the spiritual factor is supposed to play the decisive role. Religion, while laying the foundations of morality, is supposed to unite with science and provide a new interpretation of its own principles, becoming a religion of action. Thus, Teilhard developed a Christian variation of evolutionist ethics.

The doctrine of Teilhard is extremely self-contradictory. On many points, his Christian evolutionism proves to be a variety of pantheism. The optimism, humanism, and collectivism of Teilhardism distinguish it from the predominant currents in contemporary bourgeois philosophy. The life-affirming spirit of Teil-hard’s philosophy won him considerable authority among the contemporary Catholic intelligentsia. His supporters continue to exert a reforming influence on official Catholic doctrine.