Laplace's demon

The Laplace's demon is to illustrate the cognitive and epistemological view, according to which it is possible in terms of the notion of a closed mathematical world system of equations, with the knowledge of all the laws of nature and of all initial conditions such as location, position and speed of all existing in the cosmos physical particles, every last and to calculate any future state and to determine. With this statement, it would be theoretically possible to set up a world formula.

Origin

The term comes from the following quote by Pierre -Simon Laplace:

" So we have to look at the current state of the universe as a result of a previous state and the cause of the condition comes after. An intelligence that knows all the forces at a given moment, with which the world is gifted, and the current state of the entities that compose it, and which would also comprehensive enough to subject these skills of analysis, would in the same formula the einbegreifen movements of the heavenly bodies and the largest of the lightest atom. Nothing would be uncertain for it, future and past subject clearly before their eyes. "

Discussion

The metaphysical foundation of this attitude is the Gesetzesdeterminismus: For Laplace, the world is completely determined by initial conditions and laws of motion, so that the task of natural philosophy, with its model in celestial mechanics, consists solely in the integration of differential equations. That would be the task of the demon, the Laplace designs in the preface of Essai Philosophique sur les probabilites of 1814; he speaks there but less effects one by one Intelligence (French une intelligence ). That this is a not to be achieved scientific goal, Laplace was confident. Counter-arguments are the empirical inaccessibility of the small and the inaccessibility of very large masses in the cosmos. The universe, the English chemist Robert Boyle wrote in the 17th century, like a rare clock, such as the cathedral of Strasbourg. The clock - or more concretely the movement - has become a metaphor for going back to Laplace considers a deterministic universe. God has created the universe with all its laws so created, like a clockmaker would build the perfect clock. Once created and placed in the proper initial state, the universe runs inexorably from the will of the Divine Providence.

Against the idea of ​​Laplace's demon, various objections can collect, based on recognized by the physics Laplace laws. The Laplace's demon is now used only to illustrate a strictly deterministic world view.

However, since the demon is supposed to represent no actual scientific goal, he must not be subjected to a real condition, whereby the 1st, 2nd and 4th point for philosophical interpretation is meaningless. Only the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum physics is to meet her, since it involves the by definition unpredictable absolute chance. As for the point 3, is epistemologically seen, however, the entire scientific world constructed inductively (ie, is fundamentally based on probability statements ), only in the formal systems (mathematics, logic) can be derived deductively.