Abstract

The philosophical implications of recent results in observational cosmology, especially concerning the evolutionary nature of our Universe and its high degree of isotropy, and of the possible existence of black holes, are discussed in the context of established or more recently proposed cosmological principles. We emphasize the borderline problem between science and speculation. We expect that scientifically 'admitted' questions will be more restricted in the future, whereas some philosophical concepts applied to the Universe might loose their exclusivity.