Antonovskiy A. Y., Barash R.E. The Paradox of Scientific Progress in the Evolutionary Dimension

Abstract

The article proposes a solution to the paradox of scientific progress, formulated by Max Weber. Science formulates true and objective judgments, and only this distinguishes it from the world of value judgments, ideology, religion, art. On the other hand, the “lifespan of truths” is extremely small and any statement about scientific progress looks unconvincing just in comparison with the progress of value discourses, where each stage of development (style or work of art), if not replaced by the “best” at least they retain or even increase their value over the centuries. A way out of this paradox, according to the authors, can be offered by a socio-evolutionary interpretation of science, where the “criterion” of a better (or more grounded) theory is viewed as “fitness”, as the ability to respond to the challenge of the external environment, to which the best theory adapts better, and as a consequence is selected. The article is devoted to the problems that the biologically based general theory of evolution is facing today when it is extrapolated to the problem of scientific progress. The question is investigated in what sense scientific theories can be interpreted as replacing each other and competing with each other by analogy with organic formations (genotypes, phenotypes, populations); what the external environment of scientific communication is and what institutions are responsible for the selection of the best theories; about the extent to which the autonomous mechanisms of scientific evolution are differentiated, namely, the mechanisms of random variation, natural selection and stabilization of newly acquired traits. The authors analyze the solutions to these problems in the concepts of causal individuation of the scientific theories of David Hull, the concept of semantic individuation of Stephen Gould’s theory, and the possibilities of reconciliation and synthesis of these evolutionary approaches in the system-communicative theory of evolution by Niklas Luhmann.