The question why natural processes tend to flow along a preferred direction has always been considered from within the perspective of the Second Law of Thermodynamics, especially its statistical formulation due to Maxwell and Boltzmann. In this article, we re-examine the subject from the perspective of a new historico-philosophical formulation based on the careful use of selected theoretical elements taken from three key modern thinkers: Hans Reichenbach, Ilya Prigogine, and Roger Penrose, who are seldom considered together in the literature. We emphasize in our analysis how the entropy concept was introduced in response to the desire to extend the applicability of the Second Law to the cosmos at large (Reichenbach and Penrose), and to examine whether intrinsic irreversibility is a fundamental universal characteristics of nature (Prigogine). While the three thinkers operate with vastly different technical proposals and belong to quite distinct intellectual backgrounds, some similarities are detected in their thinking. We philosophically examine these similarities but also bring into focus the uniqueness of each approach. Our purpose is not providing an exhaustive derivations of logical concepts identified in one thinker in terms of ideas found in the others. Instead, the main objective of this work is to stimulate historico-philosophical investigations and inquiries into the problem of the direction of time in nature by way of crossdisciplinary examinations of previous theories commonly treated in literature as disparate domains.

中文翻译：

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论时间的方向：从赖兴巴赫到普里高津和彭罗斯

为什么自然过程倾向于沿着首选方向流动的问题一直是从热力学第二定律的角度考虑的，特别是麦克斯韦和玻尔兹曼的统计公式。在这篇文章中，我们从一个新的历史哲学表述的角度重新审视这个主题，该表述基于谨慎使用选自三位关键现代思想家的选定理论元素：Hans Reichenbach、Ilya Prigogine 和 Roger Penrose，他们很少被考虑一起在文学中。我们在分析中强调熵概念是如何被引入以响应将第二定律的适用性扩展到整个宇宙的愿望（Reichenbach 和 Penrose），并检查内在不可逆性是否是自然的基本普遍特征（Prigogine ）。虽然这三位思想家采用截然不同的技术建议，并且属于截然不同的知识背景，但在他们的思想中发现了一些相似之处。我们从哲学上检查这些相似之处，但也关注每种方法的独特性。我们的目的不是提供一个思想家根据其他思想家的想法对逻辑概念进行详尽的推导。相反，这项工作的主要目标是通过对以前在文学中通常被视为不同领域的理论进行跨学科检查，激发对自然界时间方向问题的历史哲学调查和探究。在他们的想法中发现了一些相似之处。我们从哲学上检查这些相似之处，但也关注每种方法的独特性。我们的目的不是提供一个思想家根据其他思想家的想法对逻辑概念进行详尽的推导。相反，这项工作的主要目标是通过对以前在文学中通常被视为不同领域的理论进行跨学科检查，激发对自然界时间方向问题的历史哲学调查和探究。在他们的想法中发现了一些相似之处。我们从哲学上检查这些相似之处，但也关注每种方法的独特性。我们的目的不是提供一个思想家根据其他思想家的想法对逻辑概念进行详尽的推导。相反，这项工作的主要目标是通过对以前在文学中通常被视为不同领域的理论进行跨学科检查，激发对自然界时间方向问题的历史哲学调查和探究。