  A variant of continuous nonequilibrium thermodynamic theory based on the
postulate of the scale invariance of the local relation between generalized
fluxes and forces has been proposed. This single postulate replaces the
assumptions on local equilibrium and on the known relation between
thermodynamic fluxes and forces, which are widely used in classical
nonequilibrium thermodynamics. It has been shown that such a modification not
only makes it possible to deductively obtain the main results of classical
linear nonequilibrium thermodynamics, but also provides a number of statements
for a nonlinear case (maximum entropy production principle, macroscopic
reversibility principle, and generalized reciprocity relations) that are under
discussion in the literature.
