ILYA PRIGOGINE’S PROGRAM FOR THE REMAKING OF TRADITIONAL PHYSICS AND THE RESULTING CONCLUSIONS FOR UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL PROBLEMS

1. Introduction The article takes a philosophical look at Ilya Prigogine's program, which on the basis of understanding the constructive role of irreversibility, starts from the perspective of remaking the physics hitherto existing. Some conclusions are drawn on the basis of comparing classical (including quantum mechanics and even cybernetics-like sciences) and non-classical (where Prigogine's theories belong) exact sciences for understanding social problems, and at the same time refuting a few widely spread misapprehensions. In this paper only these exact sciences that clearly take into account the history of systems and their self-organisation are considered non-classical exact sciences. The basic element in the demarcation line between the classical and the non-classical exact sciences is the irreversibility--the distinction between the past, the present and the future. It is clear that the non-classical exact sciences have almost single-handedly been developed and studied by Ilya Prigogine. 2. Classical exact sciences and social sciences Methods used in classical exact sciences (mechanics, quantum mechanics, relativity theories, cybernetics-like theories, etc.) have been most successful primarily from the point of view of creating technology, though their direct aim is the cognition of nature through mathematics and experiment or observation (which is a quasi-experiment). The construction of technology is subject to a practically complete control of human consciousness. The sociologists have also been interested in the perspective of total human control but with respect to society. Ever since their emergence 300 years ago, the reputation of exact sciences has been high; consequently, there are no sciences today--including social sciences--which do not, at least to some extent, use exact scientific methods. In search for the so-called objective truth, many social sciences (probably the majority) rest in one way or another upon clearly defined mathematical means, empirical observation and measurement. Up to now society's development has often been pictured in the manner that when society leaders influence "the right thing", a state can be reached where the development of society as a whole conducts to some optimal condition. But do the expectations to apply exact scientific concepts and methods to human society have any reasonable foundations at all? I shall try to analyse this question more thoroughly. Even in the philosophical sense it is impugnable whether classical physical-mathematical methods can be applied to society. There are essential differences between social sciences and classical exact sciences (2): unlike the former, the latter remain totally in the framework of human constructive activity. In their research, many exact scientists aim at pure objectivity, eliminating all references to the subject. They consider themselves detached from the research object (whether a physical body, a chemical reaction, a plant or an animal) and try to describe its behaviour without analysing their own activities. They do not ponder about how (and according to which requirements) a scientist or a human being in general sees the world and feels about it. These scientists are not concerned about relations between people (including the scientist himself) and research objects, but about relations between research objects themselves. The exact scientific approach enables to predict or explain (via mathematical logic) the behaviour of idealised objects in conditions that are fixed by scientific theories. Classical physics (which is the ideal for exact sciences, i.e. the pure exact science is the idealised physics-like science since Galileo (see, e.g. Vihalemm 1995a, 1995b, 1999, 2001)) strove towards the complete control over the object researched. The whole Universe was believed to be subject to laws of classical physics. Even in the discussions about the so-called anthropic principle, the rigid-deterministic mathematical equations were not placed under doubt, only the physical constants were "allowed" some modifications. …