The Cloak Of Thermodynamics On The Stature Of Public Policy Making: A Reflection On Gradients

Document Type : Research Article

Author

Professor of Public Policy, Faculty of Law & Political Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

10.22059/jppolicy.2025.105197

Abstract

The computational precision in basic science topics and the predictabilty of situations related to these sciences have always led social scientists to think of ways to bring about situations similar to the results of basic sciences in the social sciences. In this way, some have proceeded with a lack of impartiality in applying the assumptions and theories of basic sciences to the social sciences, emphasizing harsh and reckless positivism, while others with choosing a middle way to bring benefits to the social sciences by avoiding falling into the entirely computational world of these sciences. While appreciating both of aforementioned fields of knowledge and their importance in advancing human knowledge, this article explores how this effort is made with some concepts borrowed from the world of mathematics and physics and while examining the concept of "gradient" from mathematics in the world of thermodynamics, it discusses the feasibility of using such metaphors in public policy-making.

Keywords

References

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Iranian Journal of Public Policy
Volume 11, Issue 4
December 2025
Pages 26-32

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