JOSEPH MOTEMA MAMPIA

The present work examines Ilya Prigogine’s contribution to science and to the philosophy of science. Prigogine’s thoughts stem from an intellectual dissatisfaction with the view of the universe proposed by classical science, involving determinism, reversibility and timelessness. In his studies of irreversible phenomena in non-equilibrium chemistry and physics, Prigogine came to the conclusion that the universe is largely indeterministic, possessing an intrinsic irreversibility at the microscopic level, and that this instability plays a constructive role. Recognizing that life is maintained in conditions far from equilibrium, he applies his philosophical conception to explain life, novelty and evolution, considering that disorder can be a source of order. He applies his non-reductionist notion of irreversibility to understand time’s arrow. Examining the criticisms made to Prigogine, one concludes that the traditional view, based on the work of Ludwig Boltzmann, and Prigogine's conception constitute different interpretations regarding Statistical Mechanics, the problem of irreversibility and the question of the arrow of time. The debate is not about observable phenomena, but about what is the best way to explain observable phenomena. Boltzmann adopts a realist perspective in relation to the microscopic world, while Prigogine adopts an anti-realist posture, despite defending an ontological pluralism in his philosophical writings.