Towards a New

Apologetic
Three lectures by Protopresbyter Dr Doru Costache on the Anthropic
Cosmological Principle and its usefulness for a contemporary
Christian apologetic

Greek Orthodox Youth Fellowship of Kogarah
13, 20 & 27 October 2014
Towards a New
Apologetic
20 Oct - The Main Formulations of
the Anthropic Principle
Thinking anthropically entails
radical adjustments of the
current understanding of reality
Thinking
Anthropically
Recapitulating my description: The anthropic
cosmological principle is a complex
philosophical and scientific narrative, which
proposes the integration of all aspects of
reality - as perceived by modern culture -
namely, human, biological and cosmic. And
because human conscience can no longer be
ignored as significant in the making of
reality, meaning and purposefulness can no
longer be ignored.
Thinking
Anthropically
In the perspective [] of these reaches of space and time, is not
man an unimportant bit of dust on an unimportant planet in an
unimportant galaxy in an unimportant region somewhere in the
vastness of space? No! [] Meaning is important, is even central. It is
not only that man is adapted to the universe. The universe is adapted
to man. Imagine a universe in which one or another fundamental
[] constants of physics is altered by a few percent one way or the
other? Man could never come into being in such a universe. That is
the central point of the anthropic principle. According to this
principle, a life-giving factor lies at the centre of the whole
machinery and design of the world. John A. Wheeler, Foreword to
John D. Barrow and Frank J. Tipler, The Anthropic Cosmological
Principle (Oxford and New York: Clarendon Press and Oxford
University Press, 1986) vii-ix, vii.
Thinking
Anthropically
When we look at the universe and identify
the intricate accidents of physics and
astronomy which have worked in concert for
our benefit, everything seems to have
happened as though the universe must in
some sort have known that we were to appear.
Jean-Pierre Lonchamp, Science and Belief,
trans. by Dame Mary Groves, OSB (Middlegreen,
UK, and Kildare, Ireland: St Pauls, 1993) 129.
Thinking
Anthropically
the universe is the way it is because
from the outset it is established so that
it can produce a thinking being which
can know it.
Jean-Michel Maldam, Le Christ et le
cosmos: Incidence de la cosmologie
moderne sur la thologie (Descle,
Paris, 1993) 100 (my translation).
Looking at the
Anthropic Principle
Three main formulations
Weak Anthropic Principle (WAP)
Strong Anthropic Principle (SAP)
Final Anthropic Principle (FAP)
WAP
Definition: The observed values of all physical and
cosmological quantities are not equally probable but they
take on values restricted by the requirement that there
exist sites where carbon-based life can evolve and by the
requirement that the Universe be old enough for it to have
already done so.
Observation: A scientific principle, based on the evidence
that observations are restricted by the parameters of the
observers.
Barrow and Tipler, The Anthropic Cosmological Principle 16.
SAP
Definition: The universe must have those properties which allow life to
develop within it at some stage in its history.
Observation A speculative principle.
Interpretations:
There exists one possible Universe designed with the goal of
generating and sustaining observers. Observation Based on the
coincidences of the constants and religious in nature
Observers are necessary to bring the Universe into being. Observation
Also known as Participatory Anthropic Principle (PAP), being based
on quantum physics
An ensemble of other different universes is necessary for the
existence of our Universe. Observation Based on quantum physics
Barrow and Tipler, The Anthropic Cosmological Principle 21-22.
FAP
Definition: Intelligent information-processing
must come into existence in the Universe, and,
once it comes into existence, it will never die out.
Observation A speculative principle, based on
the properties of the universe, being endowed
with moral values and implying the existence of
a melioristic universe.
Barrow and Tipler, The Anthropic Cosmological
Principle 23.
Wisdom
Far from being blind, the complex process of cosmic
evolution seems to be mystically conditioned towards
life and the human existence.
Since everything conspires toward our existence, then
everything has a meaning and a purpose. In the light
of all this, can values (= ethics) and God (= theology)
be any longer discarded as scientifically irrelevant?
Lets think of possible practical applications of this
new way of thinking!
A New Alliance
Restating my original proposition: Insofar
as it discloses the meaningfulness of a
universe conditioned by/toward our
existence, with or without it being
endowed with theological connotations the
anthropic cosmological principle opens up
new avenues for the dissemination of the
Christian worldview and values today.