Crisis is the Father of All Things. Punctuated Equilibrium as a Philosophical Concept (Part one: from Metaphysics to the Evolution of Cosmos and the Biosphere)

Abstract

In this article, I present a holistic view of a crisis, referring to Gould’s concept of “punctuated equilibrium” and making its philosophical extrapolation: from dynamic metaphysical approaches, through the evolution of cosmos, to the evolution of the biosphere (in the next article, I intend to present a similarly framed history of mankind). I argue that evolution on different levels of being occurs in a similar “rhythm.” In the first phase, the object (structure) is in a state of relative balance and slow (gradual) changes. This phase ends with a catastrophe, some sudden event (an external blow or an internal “rupture”), initiating a phase of rapid change that can be described as a crisis in the broad sense. These violent transformations grow until they reach a critical moment, a moment of culmination and solstice, which can be called a crisis in the strict sense. After this crisis, there is either the disintegration of the object (“death”), or the survival, but of the object already clearly changed. A new quality (a new whole) appears, which returns to a state of relative balance and slow changes. I also point to the resistance that such a dynamic vision of being elicited from philosophers, astronomers, and naturalists, suggesting that this sympathy for constancy is a variety of Baconian tribal idols.