Stephen J. Iacoboni

Stephen J. Iacoboni, MD, is an award-winning cancer researcher and has been a practitioner of medical oncology for forty years. In his personal memoir, The Undying Soul, he chronicled his spiritual journey and return to faith. In his latest book, Telos: The Scientific Basis for a Life of Purpose, he offers a unique reconciliation between faith and science. Please feel free to visit him at stepheniacoboni.com.

Archives

A Tale of Two Doctors: Finding Purpose in Medicine and Science

Stephen Iacoboni
July 16, 2025
On this episode, host Andrew McDiarmid welcomes Dr. Stephen Iacoboni, an award-winning cancer researcher and medical oncologist with 40 years of experience, to discuss the undeniable element of purpose in all living things. The conversation dives deep into the question of whether this purpose can be explained purely by the physical world, or if it points to a source beyond nature and science. Dr. Iacoboni shares his unique reconciliation between faith and science, as explored in his latest book, Telos: The Scientific Basis for a Life of Purpose. He recounts his personal journey and profound divergence from the "mechanistic consensus" prevalent during his medical school years in the 1960s and 70s, which viewed organisms, including humans, as "biologic machines without souls, products of an unguided process."

Illuminating the Power of Life

Stephen J. Iacoboni
July 1, 2024
That which is unique to life alone, which offers the only valid explanation of irreducible complexity, is the manifestation of goal-directed functional logic.

Is Natural Law Irreducible?

Stephen J. Iacoboni
April 2, 2024
Perhaps the most fundamental distinction between naturalism and intelligent design is where each metaphysical framework draws the line at irreducibility.

How to Overcome Scientism

Stephen J. Iacoboni
December 4, 2023
Descartes is one of the founding fathers of Western science. And the conversion from medieval scholasticism to Cartesian dualism propelled science dramatically.