What is the anthropic principle? Where did it come from and why? All rational questions, which shall be answered in good time. First, let’s begin with the history of the Anthropic principle, which here to forth shall be referred to as AP. In 1973, Brandon carter was asked if he could give a few words at Copernicus’s 500th birthday. It was there that AP first surfaced in the scientific community, and was slowly met with a level of conflict that hadn’t been seen since the 17th century. Since then, many an essay has been written, arguments give, and sides taken. Brandon carter wrote several other essays, and each added to the meaning of the AP. In fact, he made two different versions; a “weak” Anthropic Principle and a “strong” anthropic Principle both of which will be discussed later on.
As the years went by, people began to use the AP for different things. One astrophysicist said “The Anthropic Principle is like duct tape of the cosmological constant. It’s not pretty, and sure as hell isn’t permanent.”(Lemonick Michael, cosmic conundrum pg. 58) Some used it as an example of a higher intelligence (lemonick Michael cosmic conundrum pg. 58). Others use it to try to explain why we get the numbers we do that explain the vacuum of space (lemonick Michael, cosmic conundrum pg.58). And others still refuse to accept it and disapprove of it all together, as well as any discovery or law written on the basis of the AP. At this point one may begin to think, well this is all fine and good but what does AP mean?
The anthropic principle, as defined by carter, basically means that especially favorable conditions such as temperature, chemical balance, and the environment are prerequisites for our very existence and that the universe evolves by no m...
... middle of paper ...
...definitions", Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society 24: 146-153, 1983, http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1983QJRAS..24..146B
Earman, John, "The SAP also rises: a critical examination of the anthropic principle", American Philosophical Quarterly 24(4): 307-17, 1987, http://www.jstor.org/pss/20014208
Carter, Brandon, "Large number coincidences and the anthropic principle in cosmology", Confrontation of Cosmological Theories with Data: 291-8, Longair, M.S., 1974, Dordrecht: Reidel, http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1974IAUS...63..291C
Wilson, Patrick A., "What is the explanandum of the anthropic principle?", American Philosophical Quarterly 28(2): 167-73, 1991, http://www.jstor.org/pss/20014368
Wilson, Patrick A., "Carter on Anthropic Principle Predictions", British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 45: 241-253, 1994, http://www.jstor.org/pss/687970
Gould, Stephen Jay. The Mismeasure of Man. W.W. Norton & Company. New York, London. 1981.
Zhao, Buyun. "Charles Darwin & Evolution." Charles Darwin & Evolution. Christ's College, 2009. Web. 04 May 2014.
Bowler, Peter J. Evolution: The History of an Idea. London: University of California Press, 1989.
Throughout history there has always been discussions and theories as to how the universe came to be. Where did it come from? How did it happen? Was it through God that the universe was made? These philosophies have been discussed and rejected and new theories have been created. I will discuss three theories from our studies, Kalam’s Cosmological Argument, Aquinas’s Design Argument, and Paley’s Design Argument. In this article, I will discuss the arguments and what these arguments state as their belief. A common belief from these three theories is that the universe is not infinite, meaning that the universe was created and has a beginning date. Each believe that there was a God, deity, or master creator that created the universe for a reason. They also believe that
Michael Ruse, The Darwinian Revolution, pub. 1979 by The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
"AAAS Board Resolution on Intelligent Design Theory." AAAS. N.p., 2002. Web. 7 Nov 2010. .
[14] Kukla, A. (2009). Extraterrestrials: A Philosophical Perspective. Lexington Books. p. 20.ISBN 9780739142455. LCCN 2009032272.
Morris, Henry. "Where Evolution has Gaps, Creation Might Offer Answers – If we will Listen." usnews.com. U.S.News & World Report, 2 Feb. 2009. Web. 21 Mar. 2012.
The world is categorized into many ecospheres, among all, water and land. Upon further analysis, it is evident that both nature and humanity are interdependent. However, our anthropocentric views on the world have led to a golden age of mass production, accelerating beyond natures ability to regenerate itself. In the late 1950s nature was not seen as an item of importance, during the time civilization was captured by the topic of civil rights for the human being, rather than the detrimental natural surroundings. Often times, society does not utilize all the resources provided by the environment and can fall into the mindset of hurting the environment without knowing the full consequences. In Silent Spring, Rachel Carson exposes the hidden
The title “Anthropocene” is officially a theoretical one as scientists are still debating upon its legitimacy. The earth has entered a new geological epoch dominated by humanity. This epoch has been coined the Anthropocene. The term is relatively new in the scope of things as it was suggested by Dutch chemist Paul Crutzen in 2002 that we had left the time period previously we thought to be in ,the Holocene, and had entered the now thought to be current time period, The Anthropocene (Zalasiewicz). The reason for this change in epoch is the ever increasing effect of mankind upon our environment and the seemingly impossibility to find something unobstructed by mankind’s extensive reach. The skeptical attitude toward the Anthropocene is due in part to the Earths vast size; consequently, it is difficult for changes that humans have made to be permanent(Brown). While permanent topographic changes are unlikely, due to unpredictable natural occurrences in addition to weathering and erosion, some changes have a much more prolonged existence such as radioactive matter. An occurrence of this would be uranium-238 which contains a half life of 4.47 billion years.(Brown) The explanation behind humans unparalleled effect on the earth is the exponential increase in population in recent history, the population has increased from under 1 billion in the early nineteenth century to over 6 billion (Zalasiewicz) .This...
Paley, William. “Natural Theology,” in Introduction to Philosophy. 6th edition. Perry, Bratman, and Fischer. Oxford University Press. 2013, pp. 47-51.
Darwin, Charles. From The Origin of Species. New York: P.F. Collier and Son Corporation, 1937. 71-86; 497-506.
Weinberg, Steven. 1992. Dreams of a Final Theory: The Search for the Fundamental Laws of Nature. New York: Pantheon Books.
Gliboff, S. (1999). Gregor Mendel and the laws of evolution. History of Science 37: 217-228.
Bostrom, Nick, ‘A History of Transhumanist Thought’, Journal of Evolution and Technology, 14 (2005), nr. 1.