Contemporary Cosmology and Philosophy and the Beginning of the Universe

Contemporary Cosmology and Philosophy and the Beginning of the Universe

ABSTRACT: Since the 1970s both in physics and cosmology, there has been a controversy on the subject of the ‘beginning of the universe.’ This indicates that this intriguing problem has reached scientific consideration and, perhaps, a solution. The aim of this paper is to try to answer the question as to whether the origin of the world has slipped out of the hands of philosophers (and theologians), and passed in its entirety into the realm of science, and whether science is able to solve this problem by itself. While presenting the main views in this dispute, I try to show also that metaphysics, philosophy of nature and epistemology provide important premises, proposals and methods that are indispensable for a solution. These premises concern such issues as the extremely subtle problem of the sense and existence of ‘nothing,’ the problem of extrapolation of local physics onto the large-scale areas of the universe, the epistemological status of cosmological principles, as well as problems of the origins of the laws of nature. This last issue is entangled in the difficult problem of the ‘rationality of the world’ and the problem of overcoming the dichotomy of laws and preconditions, according to which the conditions and laws are independent of each other.

I. Introduction

One of the determinants of scientific rationality is the condition that science undertakes only those problems whose solution is within the range of possibilities of research methods which science currently applies or is able to apply. Simply speaking, scientists are attracted by solvable problems. If this is really so then the fact of widespread discussions since the 70s among physicists and cosmologists on the subject of "the beginnings of the Universe" seem to be an obvious sign that also this unusually intriguing problem has matured to its scientific solution.

The purpose of my paper is to attempt to answer the question whether the problem of the origin of the world currently evades philosophers (and theologians) and passes completely to the realm of science (i.e. physics, astronomy and cosmology), or whether science by itself is not able to solve this problem. In the latter case one would have to acknowledge that metaphysics, the philosophy of nature and epistemology, provides important premisses, assumptions and methods indispensable for this solution.

II. Two Approaches in Cosmology

The task cosmology has to perform is to explain the structure of the Universe as it is observed.