One might be sur­pri­sed to find that a simple phy­si­cian could be able explain with cla­ri­ty the subtle rela­tion­ship bet­ween phy­sics and meta­phy­sics. It is with this ques­tion in mind that Edmond Domet de Vorges asked him­self if it might not have been with the aid of theo­lo­gians that Pierre Duhem was able to find and express his subtle arti­cu­la­tion bet­ween the two dis­ci­plines. Fol­lo­wing in the foots­teps of this per­ti­nent ques­tion, this article begins by lis­ting the catho­lic intel­lec­tuals who were acquain­tances of Pierre Duhem before the publi­ca­tion in 1893 of “Phy­sique et méta­phy­sique”, who may have been able to help him arrive at the rela­tion­ship bet­ween the two sciences expres­sed in his publi­ca­tion. This line of ques­tio­ning is fol­lo­wed by a spe­ci­fic stu­dy of one of these men, name­ly Mau­rice Blon­del. The simi­la­ri­ties and dif­fe­rences in the opi­nions of the phy­si­cian from Bor­deaux and the phi­lo­so­pher from Aix are explo­red with the resul­ting conclu­sion that Blon­del could not have been he who ins­pi­red Duhem. This conclu­sion can be confir­med by a pre­vious­ly unpu­bli­shed let­ter from Duhem to Ambroise Gar­deil which contains a very severe jud­ge­ment with regards to his “poor friend” Blondel.