The Naturalization of Natural Philosophy

Abstract

A new demarcation is proposed between Natural Philosophy and non-Natural Philosophy—philosophy tout court—based on whether or not they follow a non-standard logic of real processes. This non-propositional logic, Logic in Reality (LIR), is based on the original work of the Franco-Romanian thinker Stéphane Lupasco (Bucharest, 1900–Paris, 1988). Many Natural Philosophies remain bounded by dependence on binary linguistic concepts of logic. I claim that LIR can naturalize—bring into science—part of such philosophies. Against the potential objection that my approach blurs the distinction between science and philosophy, I reply that there is no problem in differentiating experimental physical science and philosophy; any complete distinction between philosophy, including the philosophy of science(s) and the other sciences is invidious. It was historically unnecessary and is unnecessary today. The convergence of science and philosophy, proposed by Wu Kun based on implications of the philosophy of information, supports this position. LIR provides a rigorous basis for giving equivalent ontological value to diversity and identity, what is contradictory, inconsistent, absent, missing or past, unconscious, incomplete, and fuzzy as to their positive counterparts. The naturalized Natural Philosophy resulting from the application of these principles is a candidate for the ‘new synthesis’ called for by the editors.

Prolegomenon to an Informational Philosophy in Reality

“…We limit the scope of our Philosophy in Reality to the content of natural philosophy, as it is currently being redefined by Schroeder and Dodig-Crnkovic [5] as well as Brenner and others. The potentially useful criterion, which Brenner has proposed for delimiting natural philosophy from philosophy as a whole, is its logic [6]: the Logic in Reality. For the prolegomenon to an integral paradigm of natural philosophy written by Igamberdiev see [7].…”

Philosophy in Reality: Scientific Discovery and Logical Recovery

“…We limit the scope of our Philosophy in Reality to what is also the content of natural philosophy as it is currently being redefined by Schroeder and Dodig-Crnkovic [8] as well as Brenner and others. The potentially useful criterion which Brenner has proposed for delimiting natural philosophy from philosophy as a whole is its logic [9], the Logic in Reality which will be the subject of Section 3. For the prolegomenon to an integral paradigm of natural philosophy written by Igamberdiev see [10].…”

“…On many occasions, Brenner has discussed the principles of Logic in Reality and their derivation from the logical system proposed by Lupasco, for example in articles on consciousness [22], ecology [23] and natural philosophy [9]. Underlying this work is a vision of Lupasco's Principle of Dynamic Opposition (PDO) as operative in nature.…”