Chaos and the Emergence of Order in Evolutionary Cosmology: Two Classical Accounts

Abstract

This paper compares two very different cosmological accounts (a classical creationist one, from the Enlightenment poet Abraham Cowley) and a contemporary theory coming from the field of physics, Lee Smolin's evolutionary theory of cosmology which upholds the changing nature of physical laws. This is done in order to point out some striking coincidences. Evolutionary accounts of phenomena may display such seemingly enigmatic points in common due to two reasons: the nature of the physical processes described, and the cognitive instruments available to the human mind in dealing with the formation of stable objects of cognition, such as physical laws, order, regularity, and objects.