The anthropic cosmological principle

I present a brief summary of the origins, applications and criticisms of the anthropic principle. I start with Robert Dicke's first arguments in favor of anthropic reasoning, continue through the formulations of Brandon Carter and the extrapolations of John Barrow and Frank Tipler. In the end I analyse some of the most important consequences of the anthropic principle in cosmology and quantum mechanics. There is also a section dedicated to possible refutations of the anthropic principle.