"Digital physics" as a modus of mechanism

This article examines the establishment of mechanism in the Modern Era and the "recurrence" of mechanistic ontology in contemporary "digital physics". The first section outlines the methodological framework, emphasizing a historical, rather than constructivist, approach. It focuses on discourse analysis and the conceptual metaphors that serve as markers for existential choices. The key conceptual metaphors identified are the "rule of Fortune" and the "world as a clockwork", the latter being a specific modality of the machina mundi metaphor. The second section demonstrates the significant role of the debate on the nature of chance in developing a new approach to studying nature. It is shown that the "discourse of fortune" raises a fundamental question about our relation to reality, while the "discourse of the machine" provides one possible answer. The article argues that a situational (conjunctural) perspective forms the basis for transforming the phenomenon of chance into an ontological constituent. A shift away from this perspective is posited as a necessary condition for the formation of the ontological positions of mechanism. The third section reveals that this configuration of discourses is replicated in modern physics, despite significant changes in the scientific-theoretical context. The analysis focuses on the dispute between the "discourse of chaos" (proponents of chaos theory) and the "discourse of the Turing machine" (advocates of "digital physics" and the "mathematical universe hypothesis"). The particular role of Leibniz's mechanistic approach and the subsequent reception of his binary calculus in shaping the "digital mechanics" of the contemporary era is highlighted. The author demonstrates that the renewed debate on the nature of chance acts as a "fork in the road", guiding a certain sector of scientific thought toward "digital mechanism". The author analyzes the updating of mechanism's core ontological tenets: the principle of reductionism, Laplacian determinism, absolute space and time, the principle of locality, as well as science's activist stance toward "constructing reality". The role of the many-worlds interpretation in revitalizing mechanistic ontology is also questioned. In conclusion, based on the findings, the author suggests that the conceptual resources of chaos theory may help to understand the reasons for the recurrence of this pattern in the development of scientific ideas and to overcome its compelling force. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

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