DOI: 10.17072/2078-7898/2017-3-318-327

THE ANTHROPIC PRINCIPLE AND THE PROBLEM OF ANTINOMY

Busov Sergey Vasil’evich
Ph.D. in Philosophy, Associate Professor
of the Department of Social Sciences and Humanities

Saint-Petersburg National Research University
of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics,
49, Kronversky av., Saint-Petersburg, 197101, Russia;
e-mail: swbusoff@mail.ru
ORCID: 0000-0001-6710-2042

Zobova Maria Romanovna
Ph.D. in Philosophy, Associate Professor
of the Department of Social and Political Sciences

Saint-Petersburg State University of Telecommunications
named after prof. M.A. Bonch-Bruyevich,
22/1, Bolshevikov av., Saint-Petersburg, 193232, Russia;
e-mail: mrzobova@mail.ru
ORCID: 0000-0002-9759-986X

The article is devoted to the relation between the anthropic principle and antinomies in the sphere of knowledge and ethics. The classic Anthropic Principle (AP) aims to limit the variety of existence hypotheses in cosmology. For this purpose the article analyzes discussion between notable physicists and cosmologists. The meaning of AP was revealed not only in the field of cosmology, but in the other fields of human knowledge as well. The meaning of AP appears not only as a presupposition for getting results through deductive method but as a selector for the selection of a cosmological model or the model of knowledge and behavior. It serves as a «guide-dog» to grope the borders in various subject areas and to warn the researcher from excessive multiplication of entities and building the obviously indefensible hypothesis. Developing «Occam’s razor» principle, the AP is aimed to rationally remove the paradoxical feature (antinomic) of the picture of the world and its different aspects. From the history of philosophy it is known that antinomies were an important element of the scientific method (I. Kant, N. Hartmann). Besides the ontological antinomies there are ethical ones (the antinomy of obligation, the paradox of God’s existence, theodicy, and others) which are not amenable to rational logic what, however, does not reduce their philosophical and ethical values. In conclusion the authors note that the antinomies emerge there and then in the cognitive process, where and when the will of the person is limited, when the point of creative transformation of the world is underdeveloped, all of this provide conditions for humankind to exist. This concept is emphasized in the AP equally in content and form.

Keywords: anthropic principle, antinomy, freedom, Universe, God, theodicy, super-selection, selector.

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The date of the manuscript receipt 18.01.2017

Please cite this article in English as:

Busov S.V., Zobova M.R. The anthropic principle and the problem of antinomy // Perm University Herald. Series «Philosophy. Psychology. Sociology». 2017. Iss. 3. P.318–327. DOI: 10.17072/2078-7898/2017-3-318-327