Czy naprawdę nie dzieje się nic? (polemika ze światopoglądem demokrytejskim)

Abstract

In this article I argue with Democritus and his heirs, that is to say, with a worldview that combines rationalism, ontological naturalism and mechanics. According to the latter conception, there is no metaphysical background of the world, no objective meaning, and therefore – in essence – "nothing is happening". This worldview, in the nineteenth century treated as "scientific", proved to be technologically fecund (through reductionism), but it destructively affected the sense of spiritual security associated with the sense of existence. It also contributed to the hypertrophy of the technological trunk in the culture and to the crisis of the mythological trunk (according to the distinction of Leszek Kołakowski). I also point out the important dividing line in modern European culture and philosophy: namely, the relatively coherent camp of supporters of naturalism and their vision of the world as a machine and, on the other side, the often conflicted and heterogeneous camp of its opponents. The latter has received unexpected support from new physics and cosmology, departing from the mechanistic paradigm and opening up new perspectives on the metaphysical thought, seeking the objective meaning of existence.