Crisis is the Father of All Things. Punctuated Equilibrium as a Philosophical Concept (Part one: from Metaphysics to the Evolution of Cosmos and the Biosphere) Cover Image

Kryzys ojcem wszechrzeczy. Punktualizm filozoficzny (część pierwsza: od metafizyki do ewolucji kosmosu i biosfery)
Crisis is the Father of All Things. Punctuated Equilibrium as a Philosophical Concept (Part one: from Metaphysics to the Evolution of Cosmos and the Biosphere)

Author(s): Jacek Breczko
Subject(s): Metaphysics, Ethics / Practical Philosophy, Social Philosophy
Published by: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu Marii Curie-Sklodowskiej
Keywords: crisis; punctuated equilibrium; Stephen Jay Gould; metaphysics; cosmos; biosphere;

Summary/Abstract: In this article, I present a holistic view of a crisis, referring to Gould’s concept of “punc- tuated equilibrium” and making its philosophical extrapolation: from dynamic metaphysical approaches, through the evolution of cosmos, to the evolution of the biosphere (in the next article, I intend to present a similarly framed history of mankind). I argue that evolution on different levels of being occurs in a similar “rhythm.” In the first phase, the object (structure) is in a state of relative balance and slow (gradual) changes. This phase ends with a catastrophe, some sudden event (an external blow or an internal “rupture”), initiating a phase of rapid change that can be described as a crisis in the broad sense. These violent transformations grow until they reach a critical moment, a moment of culmination and solstice, which can be called a crisis in the strict sense. After this crisis, there is either the disintegration of the object (“death”), or the survival, but of the object already clearly changed. A new quality (a new whole) appears, which returns to a state of relative balance and slow changes. I also point to the re- sistance that such a dynamic vision of being elicited from philosophers, astronomers, and nat- uralists, suggesting that this sympathy for constancy is a variety of Baconian tribal idols.

  • Issue Year: 2023
  • Issue No: 35
  • Page Range: 31-57
  • Page Count: 27
  • Language: Polish