João Barbosa, “The Anthropic Cosmological Principle: A Thematic Case of Teleology and Causality in Contemporary Science,” Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia 77, no. 4 (2021): 1397–1408, https://doi.org/10.17990/RPF/2021_77_4_1397.
| Type | Journal Article |
|---|---|
| Author | João Barbosa |
| Rights | © 2021 by Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia |
| Volume | 77 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 1397-1408 |
| Publication | Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia |
| ISSN | 0870-5283 |
| Date | 2021 |
| DOI | 10.17990/RPF/2021_77_4_1397 |
| Language | English |
| Abstract | The successive versions of the anthropic cosmological principle reintroduced teleology in cosmology, articulating it with two forms of mechanical causality – probabilism and determinism. According to the thematic analysis of science proposed by Gerald Holton, we can say that teleology is the opposing thema (the antithema) of mechanical causality. A return of teleology easily creates suspicions because mechanical causality dominates contemporary science, and teleology is widely considered an obsolete kind of scientific reasoning. Furthermore, in the anthropic cosmological principle, teleology has a deep anthropocentric feature. From the thematic point of view, the teleology of the anthropic cosmological principle is in counter-cycle. However, the cyclical functioning of themata suggests that perhaps teleology is not forever condemned to the past or to a marginal presence in scientific thought. |
| Date Added | 1/31/2022, 10:52:21 PM |
| Modified | 1/31/2022, 11:52:03 PM |
Barbosa, João. Contributos para a Compreensão do Sucesso da Cosmologia do Big Bang – uma análise thematica à luz de Gerald Holton. Lisboa: Centro de Filosofia das Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, 2018.
Barrow, John and Tipler, Frank. The Anthropic Cosmological Principle. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 1986.
Carter, Brandon. “Large Number Coincidences and the Anthropic Principle in Cosmology.” In Confrontation of Cosmological Theories with Observational Data, edited by M. S. Longair (Dordrecht: Reidel, 1974), 291-298.
Chardin, Pierre Teilhard de. The Phenomenon of Man. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1959.
Chardin, Pierre Teilhard de. Man’s Place in Nature. New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1966.
Davies, Paul. The Accidental Universe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982.
Demaret, Jacques and Lambert, Dominique. Le Principe Anthropique, l’Homme Est-il le Centre de l’Univers?. Paris: Armand Colin, 1994.
Gale, George. “The Anthropic Principle.” Scientific American 245 (1981): 154-171.
Gribbin, John. In Search of Schrödinger’s Cat – Quantum Physics and Reality. New York: Bantam Books, 1984.
Harris, Errol L. Cosmos and Anthropos – A Philosophical Interpretation of the Anthropic Cosmological Principle. Amherst, New York: Humanity Books, 1991.
Holton, Gerald. Thematic Origins of Scientific Thought. Kepler to Einstein. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, England: Harvard University Press, 1975.
Holton, Gerald. The Scientific Imagination. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, England: Harvard University Press, 1998.
Holton, Gerald and Brush, Stephen G. Physics, the Human Adventure – from Copernicus to Einstein and Beyond. New Jersey and London: Rutgers University Press, 2005.
Kragh, Helge. Conceptions of Cosmos – From Myths to the Accelerating Universe: A History of Cosmology. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2007.
Leslie, John. Universes. London: Routledge, 1989.
Reeves, Hubert. L’Heure de s’Énivrer – L’Univers A-t-il un Sens?. Paris: Éditions du Seuil, 1986.
