Prolegomena on the existence of laws of nature

Authors

Keywords:

natural laws, complexity, non-linearity, finalism, eurythmy

Abstract

“Natural laws” is a very common expression nowadays when dealing with natural sciences. The present text proposes to better define what is meant by “natural laws” and consider whether they exist or are a result of a human reading of nature. Then, it points out some historical landmarks involved in the emergence and evolution of the concept of “natural laws.” Finally, we intend to pose some questions as to why these laws exist and to present a possible current response to the problem.

Author Biography

Gildo Magalhães, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brasil, gildomsantos@hotmail.com

Currículo: http://lattes.cnpq.br/4155366726826551

References

BARROW, John & TIPPLER, Frank. The Anthropic Cosmological Principle. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996

BERGSON, Henri. A evolução criadora. Rio de Janeiro: Opera Mundi, 1973

CHANDEBOIS, Rosine. Para acabar com o Darwinismo: uma nova lógica da vida. Lisboa: Instituto Piaget, 1996

CLAYTON, Philip. “Contemporary philosophical concepts of laws of nature: the quest for broad explanatory consonance”, in WATTS, Fraser (ed.), Creation, Law and Probability. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2008

CROCA, José e MOREIRA, Rui. Diálogos sobre Física Quântica, dos paradoxos à não-linearidade. Rio de Janeiro: Capax Dei, 2010

CROCA, José, CASTRO, Paulo, GATTA, Mário. Eurritmia. Complexidade e racionalidade numa perspectiva interdisciplinar. Lisboa: Centro de Filosofia das Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, 2017

FEYNMAN, Richard. The Character of Physical Law. Cambridge (Mass.): MIT Press, 1995

GREGERSEN, Niels Henrik. “Laws of physics, principles of self-organization, and natural capacities; on explaining a self-organizing world”, in WATTS, Fraser (ed.), Creation, Law and Probability. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2008

HARRISON, Peter. “The development of the concept of laws of nature”, in WATTS, Fraser (ed.), Creation, Law and Probability. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2008

HEYDTE, Friedrich August von der. O nascimento do Estado soberano. Uma contribuição à história do direito natural, da teoria geral do Estado e do pensamento político. Rio de Janeiro: Capax Dei, 2014

MARX, Karl, Capital, Volume Three. London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1974.

MACH, Ernst. The Science of Mechanics. LaSalle: Open Court, 1989

MAGALHÃES, Gildo. “On a possible contribution of transfinite mathematics towards eurhythmy”, in CROCA, José et al. (eds.), Space, Time, and Becoming (Lisboa: FLUL, 2013)

MAGALHÃES, Gildo. A trama do universo. Evolução e euritmia. São Paulo: LiberArs, 2019.

MOREIRA, Rui. “The crisis in theoretical physics – science, philosophy and metaphysics”, in CROCA and ARAÚJO, A new vision on physics. Eurhythmy, emergende and nonlinearity. Lisboa: CFCUL/FCT, 2010

NUMBERS, Ronald (ed.). Galileo goes to jail and other myths about science and religion. Cambridge (Mass.): Harvard University Press, 2009

PLANCK, Max. A Survey of Physical Theory. New York: 1993

POINCARÉ, Henri. O valor da ciência. Rio de Janeiro: Contraponto, 2000

POPPER, Karl. A teoria dos quanta e o cisma na Física (Pós-escrito à Lógica da Descoberta Científica – vol. III). Lisboa: Dom Quixote, 1992

RICHARDS, Robert. The Romantic Conception of Life. Science and philosophy in the age of Goethe. Chicago: University of Chicago, 2002

VERNADSKY, Vladimir. Scientific Thought as a Planetary Phenomenon. Moscow: V.I. Nongovernmental Ecological Vernadsky Foundation, 1997

WILDMAN, Wesley. “From law and chances in nature to ultimate reality”, in WATTS, Fraser (ed.), Creation, Law and Probability. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2008

ZILSEL, Edgar. “The genesis of the concept of physical law”, in The social origins of modern science. Doordrecht: Kluwer, 2003.

Published

2022-07-29

How to Cite

MAGALHÃES, G. Prolegomena on the existence of laws of nature. Revista de Teoria da História, Goiânia, v. 25, n. 1, p. 151–164, 2022. Disponível em: https://revistas.ufg.br/teoria/article/view/73562. Acesso em: 16 aug. 2024.