Modern Cosmology and Anthropic Fine-Tuning: 
Three approaches

Title:		Modern Cosmology and Anthropic Fine-Tuning: Three approaches
Authors:		Collins, Robin
Affiliation:		AA(Department of Philosophy, Messiah College)
Publication:		Georges Lemaître: Life, Science and Legacy, Astrophysics and Space Science Library, Volume 395. ISBN 978-3-642-32253-2. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2012, p. 173
Publication Date:		00/2012
Origin:		SPRINGER
Keywords:		Physics
Abstract Copyright:		(c) 2012: Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
DOI:		10.1007/978-3-642-32254-9_13
Bibliographic Code:		2012ASSL..395..173C

Abstract

The anthropic fine-tuning of the cosmos refers to the claim that the laws of nature, the constants of physics, and the initial conditions of the universe must be set to an enormous degree of precision for embodied conscious agents to exist. Three major responses have been offered to this fine-tuning: the multiverse explanation; theism; and the claim that it is just a brute fact that requires no further explanation. In this chapter, I will consider each explanation in turn, and provide some novel arguments for the superiority of a theistic or related explanation. In the last section, I will show how whether or not one adopts a theistic or related explanation can significantly influence what features of the universe one considers in need of further scientific explanation, and the type of scientific explanation that one should find satisfactory. In particular, I will argue that in some cases atheism, not theism, serves as a science stopper in discouraging a search for deeper scientific explanations of phenomena.

Source: 

SAO/NASA ADS Astronomy Abstract Service

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