ANTHROPIC PRINCIPLE
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 126 ▶ |
| Object type | Epistemology, ontology or semantics |
J.D. BARROW and F.J. TIPPLER formulated this principle (1986). According to them, the nature of the physical world must necessarily be such that the perceptive and intelligent observer's existence be possible.
A universe without witnesses would of course be a different universe… or would it “exist”, i.e. is existence possible without self-consciousness (even of a part observing the whole — or at least a larger fragment of the whole)?
It is difficult to evaluate the possible systemic meanings of these recollections from PLATO and BERKELEY. Whiffs of solipsism are floating around!
A more acceptable view of the Anthropic Principle would be that the coherence of multiple characteristics of the universe as we know it (microphysic and macrophysic constants, space-time characteristics, gravitation, etc.) merely implies that our own existence as conscious observers (after a very long evolutive process !) became possible, or even normal.
But this kind of extraordinary stretched cosmical tautology does not lead to any new and significant rational development . It may be more useful for theology than for science. WALD( 1994, p. 123-31)