anthropic principle
E161128
The anthropic principle is a philosophical and scientific idea that explains the universe’s observed properties by noting they must be compatible with the existence of observers like us.
All labels observed (6)
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T1406127 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: anthropic principle Context triple: [Rare Earth hypothesis, relatedTo, anthropic principle]
-
A.
participatory anthropic principle
The participatory anthropic principle is a philosophical concept in cosmology proposing that observers are necessary to bring the universe into being or to give it meaningful existence.
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B.
Essai de cosmologie
Essai de cosmologie is an 18th-century philosophical and scientific treatise by Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis that explores the structure and origins of the universe within the framework of early Enlightenment cosmology.
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C.
Fermi paradox
The Fermi paradox is the apparent contradiction between the high probability of extraterrestrial civilizations existing in the universe and the lack of evidence or contact with them.
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D.
Drake equation
The Drake equation is a probabilistic formula used to estimate the number of technologically advanced extraterrestrial civilizations that might exist in our galaxy.
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E.
Mach principle
Mach principle is a philosophical and physical concept proposing that local inertial properties of matter are determined by the large-scale distribution of mass and energy in the universe.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: anthropic principle Target entity description: The anthropic principle is a philosophical and scientific idea that explains the universe’s observed properties by noting they must be compatible with the existence of observers like us.
-
A.
participatory anthropic principle
The participatory anthropic principle is a philosophical concept in cosmology proposing that observers are necessary to bring the universe into being or to give it meaningful existence.
-
B.
Essai de cosmologie
Essai de cosmologie is an 18th-century philosophical and scientific treatise by Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis that explores the structure and origins of the universe within the framework of early Enlightenment cosmology.
-
C.
Fermi paradox
The Fermi paradox is the apparent contradiction between the high probability of extraterrestrial civilizations existing in the universe and the lack of evidence or contact with them.
-
D.
Drake equation
The Drake equation is a probabilistic formula used to estimate the number of technologically advanced extraterrestrial civilizations that might exist in our galaxy.
-
E.
Mach principle
Mach principle is a philosophical and physical concept proposing that local inertial properties of matter are determined by the large-scale distribution of mass and energy in the universe.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (49)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
anthropic reasoning
ⓘ
cosmological principle ⓘ philosophical principle ⓘ |
| addresses |
conditions necessary for life
ⓘ
fine-tuning of physical constants ⓘ selection effects in observation ⓘ |
| appliesTo |
cosmological models
ⓘ
probabilistic reasoning about universes ⓘ |
| coreIdea | the universe’s observed properties must be compatible with the existence of observers ⓘ |
| criticizedFor |
encouraging teleological interpretations
ⓘ
perceived lack of predictive power ⓘ risk of tautology ⓘ |
| discussedBy |
Frank J. Tipler
ⓘ
linked to:
Frank Tipler
John D. Barrow ⓘ Stephen Hawking ⓘ Steven Weinberg ⓘ |
| epistemicStatus |
controversial in physics community
ⓘ
widely debated in philosophy of science ⓘ |
| field |
cosmology
ⓘ
philosophy of science ⓘ physics ⓘ |
| hasFormulation |
final anthropic principle
ⓘ
participatory anthropic principle ⓘ strong anthropic principle ⓘ
linked to:
anthropic principle
weak anthropic principle ⓘ |
| hasPublication |
The Anthropic Cosmological Principle
ⓘ
linked to:
anthropic principle
|
| influenced |
cosmological constant problem discussions
ⓘ
inflationary cosmology interpretations ⓘ multiverse reasoning in physics ⓘ |
| introducedAt | IAU Symposium 63 ⓘ |
| introducedInContextOf | large number coincidences in cosmology ⓘ |
| logicalType | selection effect principle ⓘ |
| methodologicalRole |
constraint on acceptable cosmological theories
ⓘ
explanatory framework for observed constants ⓘ |
| proposedBy | Brandon Carter ⓘ |
| publicationAuthors |
Frank J. Tipler
ⓘ
linked to:
Frank Tipler
John D. Barrow ⓘ |
| relatedTo |
design arguments
ⓘ
fine-tuning argument ⓘ multiverse hypothesis ⓘ observer selection effects ⓘ selection bias ⓘ teleology in cosmology ⓘ |
| strongVersionStates | the universe must have properties that allow life to develop within it at some stage ⓘ |
| usedInArgumentAbout |
probability of intelligent life
ⓘ
structure formation in the universe ⓘ values of fundamental physical constants ⓘ |
| weakVersionStates | our location in the universe is necessarily privileged to the extent of being compatible with our existence as observers ⓘ |
| yearProposed | 1973 ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: anthropic principle Description of subject: The anthropic principle is a philosophical and scientific idea that explains the universe’s observed properties by noting they must be compatible with the existence of observers like us.
Referenced by (14)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
Nick Bostrom
→
notableWork
→
Anthropic Bias: Observation Selection Effects in Science and Philosophy
ⓘ
linked to: anthropic principle
linked to: anthropic principle
linked to: anthropic principle
linked to: anthropic principle
linked to: anthropic principle
linked to: anthropic principle
linked to: anthropic principle
linked to: anthropic principle
linked to: anthropic principle
linked to: anthropic principle
Brandon Carter
→
notableWork
→
“Large Number Coincidences and the Anthropic Principle in Cosmology”
ⓘ
linked to: anthropic principle