From both physical and epistemological viewpoints, the following theses, which nowadays are often discussed in the literature, are examined: Nonlinear thermodynamics renders it possible to grasp evolutionary physical processes; for thermodynamics it introduces, instead of idealized reversible time, a directed time into physics; thus a science is established that is nearer to reality than classical physics. To analyze these theses, the relation of thermodynamics to dynamical physics is considered. In particular, it is demonstrated that, in classical as well as in (...) modern thermodynamics, irreversibility is introduced via conditions which must be formulated in addition to the dynamical laws. To show the reason for this, the epistemological status of the physical time conception is analyzed, and its character as a physical measurement quantity is established. (shrink)

The ArgumentThe idea of evolution doubtlessly marks a revolution in our way of thinking. It is the most recent achievement of philosophy and forms the basis of the modern world picture. Current discussions concerning the status of science now convey the impression that any scientific discipline that wants to satisfy modern requirements must also become a theory of evolution. These discussions ignore the reasons which once induced Kant to desist from reformulating classical mechanics as a theory of evolution and instead (...) to found his critical philosophy, according to which the epistemological starting points of natural science and philosophy are different in principle. In other words, there is no examination of whether the reasons given by Kant are of a principle nature so that they are still valid today, but rather, ignoring Kant's arguments, it is taken for granted that a different physical theory than classical mechanics could achieve this.Because nonlinear thermodynamics in particular is often presented as a candidate that justifies hopes of an evolutionary physics, the position of this branch within the structure of physics will be investigated here. It will be seen that a historical component is introduced into physics via initial, boundary, and other supplementary conditions, but that this does not mean that historicity has been grasped in laws, which is of course the point of a scientific theory of development.It is demonstrated that the conclusion drawn for physics by some authors from nonlinear thermodynamics, according to which physics today becomes an evolutionary physics incorporating the cognitive subject, is wrong. The progress made by modern thermodynamics is, without doubt, significant. The widespread philosophical interpretation of thermodynamics rests, however, on an antiquated ontologization of physical concepts and thus on the usual procedure of mechanicism.If one tries to introduce the conception of evolution into natural science by leveling the difference between philosophy and natural science in a mechanistic manner, then the dialectical evolutionary conception which represents a new epoch of human thinking degenerates to an evolutionism, where lawfulness is replaced by accidentalness. (shrink)

The difference between the measurement bases of classical and quantum mechanics is often interpreted as a loss of reality arising in quantum mechanics. In this paper it is shown that this apparent loss occurs only if one believes that refined everyday experience determines the Euclidean space as the real space, instead of considering this space, both in classical and quantum mechanics, as a theoretical construction needed for measurement and representing one part of a dualistic space conception. From this point of (...) view, Einstein's program of a unified field theory can be interpreted as the attempt to find a physical theory that is less dualistic. However, if one rgards this dualism as resulting from the requirements of measurements, one can hope for a weakening of the dualism but not expect to remove it completely. (shrink)

Was ist wirklich? Was ist die Wirklichkeit? Anhand einer epistemologischen Analyse der Physik werden Fragen diskutiert, die der Uberzeugung entspringen, dass das Wissen der exakten Naturwissenschaften -formal-, dass es sogenanntes Verstandeswissen ist, das als solches die Wirklichkeit nicht direkt, nicht adaquat zu reflektieren vermag, dennoch aber die exakten Naturwissenschaften zu allgemeingultigen Gesetzesaussagen uber die Wirklichkeit gelangen. Die Antwort auf die Frage, wie dies moglich ist, wird in der vorliegenden Arbeit gesucht, indem Probleme der Physik sowohl in ihrer modernen Auspragung als (...) auch in ihren antiken Urformen und ihrer klassischen Newtonschen Gestaltung untersucht werden. Dabei ergibt sich, dass die physikalischen Begriffsbildungen massgeblich durch das Prinzip der experimentellen Methode bestimmt sind, das die Begrundung physikalischer Gesetze erst ermoglicht, zugleich aber eine Begrenztheit des physikalischen Wirklichkeitsbegriffs impliziert.". (shrink)