by Corry Shores
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[Eugène Dupréel, entry directory]
[Dupréel, Essais pluralistes, entry directory]
[The following is summary and not translation. Bracketed commentary is my own, as is any boldface. Proofreading is incomplete, so typos are present, including in the quotations. Please consult the original text to be sure about the contents. Also, I welcome corrections to my interpretations, because I am not especially good with French.]
Summary of
Eugène Dupréel
Essais pluralistes
Ch.6
Théorie de la consolidation.
Esquisse d’une théorie de la vie d’inspiration sociologique.
6.3
[Purpose/Finality in Sociology]
6.3.3
Probabilité de la Consolidation
Brief summary:
(6.3.3.1) Whether or not parts consolidate is often a matter of probability. (6.3.3.2) Whether or not two (spatial) coexistents come to be consolidated in the same solid or body is a matter of probability, which increases or decreases depending on whether the spatial interval between them increases or decreases. For example, if two flint pebbles are one centimeter apart in the soft binding material, their chances of consolidating together is much greater than for pebbles set a meter apart. (6.3.3.3) Time is also required for consolidation. In the case of the puddingstone, gravity had to hold the pebbles and sand in place for a very long time. (6.3.3.4) When parts are set up to be consolidated, there could be any of three sorts of conditions with respect to the probability of their co-consolidation: {1} there could be unfavorable conditions, like a torrent of water moving the two pebbles very far apart from each other; {2} there could be indifferent conditions, like a light breeze brushing against the pebbles without moving them; and {3} there could be favorable conditions, like a rain of sand that fixes the pebbles in their place. When the supporting force is weak, then many influences can destroy the parts’ ordering before they can consolidate. But if the supporting force is strong, like two nails being hammered near one another in an oak beam, then they will more likely hold their spatial relations despite disruptive influences. (6.3.3.5) This operation of consolidation can be seen as one of fixation or of crystallization. And it could be that this operation still fixes or crystallizes the parts even while modifying their relations a little in the process.
[Noting the Probability of Consolidation]
[The Interval Between Parts and Its Effect on the Probability of Consolidation]
[The Role of Time in Consolidation]
[Variables on Consolidation Probability]
[Crystallization or Fixation as Modifying the Parts’ Relation]
Summary
[Noting the Probability of Consolidation]
(p.160: “Probabilité de la Consolidation. – Il semble qu’on peut parler ...”)
[Whether or not parts consolidate is often a matter of probability.]
[The Probability of Consolidation: It seems that we can speak of the degree of probability of some given operation of consolidation. (Recall from section 6.3.2 what consolidation is. There are two phases in the formation of a physical entity that is made of parts and that sustains that composite composition over time. Firstly, the parts are arranged and held in place by an exterior influence, like gravity and soil holding flint pebbles in a particular arrangement within a still-soft binding material. Secondly, the parts’ arrangement becomes fixed such that it no longer depends on the exterior influence for the arrangement to hold over time, like the binding material around the flint pebbles hardening to from puddingstone (see especially section 6.3.2.4 for this example). Note that two things are transferred from the exterior influence to the interiority of the formed object: {1} the parts’ proper arrangement of mutual relations, and {2} the capacity to hold those relations intact over time, which is called solidity. Whenever there is such a transfer, we call it consolidation (see section 6.3.2.2). Such beings whose consolidation is a matter of physical parts placed into a spatial arrangement are called consolidations of coexistents (consolidés de coexistence) (see section 6.3.2.3).]
Probabilité de la Consolidation. – Il semble qu’on peut parler du degré de probabilité d’une opération de consolidation déterminée.
(160)
[The Interval Between Parts and Its Effect on the Probability of Consolidation]
(p.160: “Si nos deux cailloux de silex ...”)
[Whether or not two (spatial) coexistents come to be consolidated in the same solid or body is a matter of probability, which increases or decreases depending on whether the spatial interval between them increases or decreases. For example, if two flint pebbles are one centimeter apart in the soft binding material, their chances of consolidating together is much greater than for pebbles set a meter apart.]
[(In rough form: If our two flint pebbles, instead of being deposited less than a centimeter from one another, had been set more than a meter apart, then the chances of them one day becoming integrated parts of the same solid independent of the site where it was formed would have been much lower. The phenomenon, in fact, depends, in principle, on a favorable layout of the interval. The larger the interval, the greater the chance that agglutination will be lost in a multitude of opposing possibilities.)]
Si nos deux cailloux de silex, au lieu d’être déposés à moins d’un centimètre l’un de l’autre, l’avaient été à plus d’un mètre, les chances d’être un jour parties intégrantes d’un même solide indépendant du site où il s’est formé, auraient été beaucoup moins grandes. Le phénomène, en effet, dépend, au principal, d’un aménagement favorable de l’intervalle. Plus celui-ci est grand, plus les chances d’agglutination se perdent dans une multitude de possibilités contraires.
(160)
[The Role of Time in Consolidation]
(p.160-161: “Il faut, en outre, du temps ...”)
[Time is also required for consolidation. In the case of the puddingstone, gravity had to hold the pebbles and sand in place for a very long time.]
[(In rough form: Also, it requires time for the decisive condition to present itself. In the case of this puddingstone, gravity alone had to hold the two pebbles and the sand in place probably for a span of many years.]
Il faut, en outre, du temps pour que la condition décisive se | présente. Dans le cas de ce poudingue, la seule pesanteur a dû maintenir en place les deux cailloux et le sable probablement durant des années.
(160-161)
[Variables on Consolidation Probability]
(p.161: “Enfin, les chances augmentent ...”)
[When parts are set up to be consolidated, there could be any of three sorts of conditions with respect to the probability of their co-consolidation: {1} there could be unfavorable conditions, like a torrent of water moving the two pebbles very far apart from each other; {2} there could be indifferent conditions, like a light breeze brushing against the pebbles without moving them; and {3} there could be favorable conditions, like a rain of sand that fixes the pebbles in their place. When the supporting force is weak, then many influences can destroy the parts’ ordering before they can consolidate. But if the supporting force is strong, like two nails being hammered near one another in an oak beam, then they will more likely hold their spatial relations despite disruptive influences.]
[(In rough form: Lastly, the chances (of consolidation) increase with the force of the exterior support. With our two pebbles being placed close to one another, there are three kinds of situations that can take place in the spatial interval between them. {1} There can be conditions that are unfavorable for maintaining this established order; for example, a torrent of water might disperse the stones (away from each other). {2} There can be indifferent conditions, as for instance a light breeze that brushes against the pebbles without displacing them. And {3} there can be favorable circumstances, as for example a rain of sand that fixes them in their place. If the supporting force is quite weak or null, then, all things being equal, there will be many more probable circumstances that will result in the destruction of the supported relations than will there be favorable interactions. So if two pebbles are held in place by a very strong force, like two nail heads hammered one beside the other into an oak beam, then this (supporting) force will cancel out many dangers of destruction, leaving the field free for favorable conditions for consolidation.)]
Enfin, les chances augmentent en même temps que la force de sustentation extérieure. Nos deux cailloux étant déposés l’un près de l’autre, ce qu’il peut se passer dans l’intervalle qui les sépare se ramène à trois espèces de faits : 1° des faits défavorables au maintien de cet ordre établi, par exemple un torrent d’eau qui disperse les cailloux ; 2° des faits indifférents, tels qu’une légère brise qui les caresse sans les déplacer ; 3° des faits favorables, tels qu’une pluie de sable qui les fixe à leur place. Si la force de sustentation est très faible ou nulle, toutes choses égales d’ailleurs les conjonctures probables dont résultera la destruction du rapport soutenu seront bien plus nombreuses que les rencontres favorrables. Que si les deux cailloux sont maintenus en place par une force très grande, comme le seraient deux têtes de clous enfoncés, l’un près de l’autre, dans une poutre de chêne, cette force annulera nombre de dangers de destruction, laissant le champ libre aux conditions favorables à la consolidation (fig. 3).
(161)
[Crystallization or Fixation as Modifying the Parts’ Relation]
(p.161: “II est bon de remarquer que si notre opération ...”)
[This operation of consolidation can be seen as one of fixation or of crystallization. And it could be that this operation still fixes or crystallizes the parts even while modifying their relations a little in the process.]
[(In rough form: It is worth noting that if our operation is the fixation or the crystallization of a spatial relation between terms, it could be that the operation modifies the spatial relation at the same time that it ensures that the spatial relation endures through time. Slow work can occur in the puddingstone that could cause the two pebbles to move a little closer or a little farther apart from one another. It could be that a particular alteration of the relationship be in effect or even be a condition of its consolidation.)]
II est bon de remarquer que si notre opération est la fixation ou la cristallisation d’un rapport spatial entre des termes, il peut arriver qu’elle le modifie plus ou moins en même temps qu’elle en assure la durée. Un travail lent peut se produire dans le poudingue, qui aura pour effet de rapprocher ou d’éloigner quelque peu l’un de l’autre les deux galets. Il se peut qu’une certaine altération du rapport soit un effet, ou même une condition de sa consolidation.
(161)
Dupréel, Eugène. (1949). Essais pluralistes. Paris: Presses universitaires de France.
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