Science took on several distinct uses and meanings under Francoism. It was exhibited as a token of intellectual prowess, deployed as a mighty diplomatic tool, applied as a resource for industry, and invoked in support of National Catholicism. However, in order to successfully fulfill all these roles, science had first to be cleansed and purified, for it was historically bound to materialism, atheism, and positivism. Physics had developed a mechanical worldview that precluded spiritual agency, and the theory of evolution had deprived man of his privileged place in nature. Could these developments be reversed? Classical physics would not easily serve the needs of the new National Catholic state, but modern physics might do, acting as a model and a tool for biological reasoning. In this paper we describe the various attempts by Spanish scientists, philosophers, and intellectuals to enlist modern physics and a revised version of evolution in the construction of the new regime. They strove to show their spiritual value, to sever them from a soul-less modernity, and to reinstate them within a grand universal Catholic tradition. We discuss the import of their arguments for the simultaneous debates about time, space, matter, life, and evolution, exploring the affinities and tensions between the inert and the living world.

中文翻译：

---

西班牙佛朗哥时期物理学与进化的文化意义：自给自足时期的延续与发展

科学在佛朗哥主义下具有几种不同的用途和意义。它被展示为智力实力的象征，被用作强大的外交工具，被用作工业资源，并被用来支持国家天主教。然而，为了成功地发挥所有这些作用，科学必须首先被净化和净化，因为它在历史上与唯物主义、无神论和实证主义联系在一起。物理学发展了一种机械的世界观，排除了精神力量，进化论剥夺了人类在自然界中的特权地位。这些发展可以逆转吗？古典物理学不会轻易满足新的国家天主教国家的需求，但现代物理学可能会，充当生物推理的模型和工具。在本文中，我们描述了西班牙科学家的各种尝试，哲学家和知识分子争取现代物理学和进化论的修订版参与新政权的建设。他们努力展示他们的精神价值，将他们从没有灵魂的现代性中分离出来，并在一个宏伟的普遍天主教传统中恢复他们。我们讨论了他们的论点在关于时间、空间、物质、生命和进化的同时辩论中的重要性，探索了惰性世界和生命世界之间的密切关系和紧张关系。