机械论的合理性和局限性

The Rationality and Limitations of the Mechanism

作为具有存在论性质的机械论(mechanism),自近代科学革命直到今天,它都是科技人员探索自然规律的圭臬。尽管受到自然辩证法的批判,但科技界并未因科技哲学界的批判而放弃机械论。这表明,受限于形而上学思维方式的机械论,在研究事物性质所表现出的合理性被长期忽视了。通过对托马斯·瑞德所著《机器崛起-遗失的控制论历史》一书的分析表明,科研人员正是通过在控制科技的历史实践中,运用追求"不变"的本质分析传统的构成思维,同时,自觉或不自觉的运用"变"的反思思维的创新活动,由此促进了主客融合,使得具有人工智能的机器崛起了。探讨以实证性案例分析为基础的机械论和演化论的融合,其实就是对机械实践论或机械创新论的研究。这将有助于机械论在自然辩证法的批判中前行。

Mechanism with ontological nature has been the criterion for scientists and technologists to explore natural laws since the modern scientific revolution until today. Despite being criticized by natural dialectics, the scientific and technological community has not given up mechanism because of the criticism from the circle of the philosophy of science and technology. It means that mechanism limited by the metaphysical way of thinking has long been overlooked in the aspect of its rationality for studying the nature of things. By an analysis of Thomas Rid’s The Rise of Machines-The Cybernetic History, it shows that it is through the historical practice of controlling science and technology that scientific researchers make use of the analytical tradition of pursuing the essence of "invariability" which is the thinking of constitution. Meanwhile, innovative activities of reflective thinking of "transformation" have been used either consciously or unconsciously so as to promote the subject-object convergence. Machines with artificial intelligence have risen. Exploring the fusion of the mechanism and the evolution based on empirical case analysis is actually a study of mechanical practice theory or mechanical innovation theory. It will help mechanism advance in the critique of natural dialectics.