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THE NATURE OF PHYSICAL REALITY |
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| Authors: | John C. Polkinghorne |
| Affiliation: | John Polkinghorne is a former Professor of Mathematical Physics at Cambridge University, a Fellow of the Royal Society, an Anglican priest, and the President of Queens'College, Cambridge, England. |
| Abstract: | Abstract. This account of the dynamical theory of chaos leads to a metaphysical picture of a world with an open future, in which the laws of physics are emergent-downward approximations to a more subtle and supple reality and in which there is downward causation through information input as well as upward causation through energy input. Such a metaphysical picture can accommodate both human and divine agency. |
| Keywords: | antireductionism chaos d'Espagnat determinism downward causation emergence Farrer Feigenbaum fractals God of the gaps Mandelbrot set MacKay mechanism mind and matter Moltmann Peacocke process thought quantum theory reductionism Whitehead |