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Nature, philosophy: nature is usually defined as the part of reality that was not made or designed by humans. No properties can be attributed to nature. E.g. since contradiction is ultimately a language problem, one can say that nature cannot be contradictory. Not all forms of necessity can be attributed to nature, e.g. non-logical necessity and unnecessary existence. See also de re, de dicto, necessity de re, existence.
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Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments.

 
Author Concept Summary/Quotes Sources

Ilya Prigogine on Nature - Dictionary of Arguments

Gaus I 50
Nature/Prigogine/Bennett: Prigogine articulates a version of natural science congenial to postmodern cultural theory.
>Postmodernism
, >Cultural Theory.
He and his collaborator, the philosopher of science Isabelle Stengers, eschew the model of nature implied in classical dynamics, which presents ‘a silent world … a dead, passive nature, a nature that behaves as an automaton which, once programmed, continues to follow the rules inscribed in the program’ (Prigogine and Stengers, 1984(1): 6).
Their own model engages a nature where creativity and novelty abound and ‘where the possible is richer than the real’.
>Creativity.
They insist, however, that nature retains a kind of intelligibility, even in its most complex and indeterminate states (Prigogine(2), 1997). Nature is neither the static world of classical dynamics nor some random set of fluctuations unrecognizable as a world: ‘a new formulation of the laws of nature is now possible … in which there is room for both the laws of nature and novelty and creativity’ (1997(3).
>Natural laws.

1. Prigogine, Ilya and Isabelle, Stengers (1984) Order Out of Chaos: Man’s New Dialogue with Nature. New York: Bantam.
2. Prigogine, Ilya (1997) The End of Certainty: Time, Chaos, and the New Laws of Nature. New York: Free.
3. Ibid. p.16

Jane Bennett, 2004. „Postmodern Approaches to Political Theory“. In: Gaus, Gerald F. & Kukathas, Chandran 2004. Handbook of Political Theory. SAGE Publications.

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Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments
The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition.
Prigogine, Ilya
Gaus I
Gerald F. Gaus
Chandran Kukathas
Handbook of Political Theory London 2004


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