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.]
[May I please thank the sources of the puddingstone images:
East Herts Geology Club:
http://ehgc.org.uk/hertfordshire-puddingstone/puddingstone-use/
]
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]
6.3.2
Les consolidés de coexistence
Brief summary:
(6.3.2.1) There are two stages in the manufacture of an object: firstly, the parts are manually given the arrangement they will finally hold on their own, and secondly, these structural relations between the parts are then fixed so that the object stands by itself, without the laborer’s interference. (6.3.2.2) We see these two phases of object construction in the molding process: {1} first the mold places the molding material’s parts together into a certain arrangement and holds them there. {2} Next, the material hardens into that form and keeps it all on its own. Note that two things are transferred from the mold to molded material: {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. (6.3.2.3) In manufactured things, the ordering of the parts is a spatial one. We call such things consolidations of coexistents (consolidés de coexistence). (6.3.2.4) This process of consolidation that we saw in human industry can also be found in natural processes, as for example in the formation of puddingstone. Here pieces of flint are fixed in place within binding materials by the soil and gravity. As the binding material solidifies, a solid rock is formed which no longer relies on the exterior supporting factors to maintain the compositional arrangement of the pebbles in the hardened binding cement. This is a natural example of consolidated coexistents. (6.3.2.5) Consolidations of coexistents are quite common in nature, as all bodies with connected parts – be they solids or things with more loosely bound parts – are consolidations of coexistents. They are all formed by this two-step process where the exterior order gives arrangement and support to the parts until they solidify. (6.3.2.6) The world of our sensible perception is a totality of consolidations of coexistents.
[The Two Phases of Object Manufacture: The Arrangement of the Parts and the Fixing of the Arrangement]
[Molding as a Great Example of the Two-Phased Process. Solidity as Consistency. Consolidation as Exterior-to-Interior Structuration-Support Transfer]
[Consolidations of Coexistents]
[Natural Consolidated Coexistents: Puddingstone]
[The Prevalence of Consolidations of Coexistents in Nature]
[Our World of Sensible Perception as Being Composed of Consolidations of Coexistents]
Summary
[The Two Phases of Object Manufacture: The Arrangement of the Parts and the Fixing of the Arrangement]
(p.158: “Les Consolidés de coexistence. – Dans toute fabrication ...”)
[There are two stages in the manufacture of an object: firstly, the parts are manually given the arrangement they will finally hold on their own, and secondly, these structural relations between the parts are then fixed so that the object stands by itself, without the laborer’s interference.]
[(In rough form: The Consolidateds/Consolidations of Coexistence. Generally speaking, in any manufacturing process, we may distinguish two well-characterized successive states: In the first state, the parts of the object under construction are collected and arranged in the order that they should continue retaining. But at this phase of the labor, this order is only maintained by external and temporary means. It is only in a second and final state that, through an internal arrangement, the parts all on their own will hold together the parts’ positional relations in the completed object. For example, if it is a matter of making a crate, for a few moments, it is the hands of the worker that hold the boards upon each other, which she will fix together with nails. When they are hammered in, the crate “stands on its own”: it went from the first to the second of the two states whose succession we have just mentioned.) (Main ideas in refined form: In a manufacturing process, there are two stages of the object’s production. In the first stage, the object’s parts are arranged into the order they will finally hold. But at this point, the establishment and the maintenance of that order is made by the laborer. In the second stage of production, those arrangements are given a self-standing, fixed form, so that the object’s arrangement holds on its own. Consider for illustration the production of a wooden crate. In the first stage, the laborer’s hand sets up the proper arrangement of the crate’s parts. (Were the laborer to remove the influence of her hands, the crate would collapse). In the second stage, the crate’s boards are hammered together so that it can hold together even without the support of the laborer’s hands.)]
Les Consolidés de coexistence. – Dans toute fabrication, en général, on peut distinguer deux états successifs bien caractérisés : Dans un premier état, les parties de l’objet à construire sont rassemblées et mises dans l’ordre où elles devront demeurer. Mais à ce moment du travail cet ordre ne se maintient que par des moyens extérieurs et provisoires. Ce n’est qu’à un état second et définitif que, par un aménagement intérieur, les parties garderont d’elles-mêmes les rapports de position que comporte l’objet achevé. S’agit-il de faire une caisse, pendant quelques instants, ce sont les mains de l’ouvrier qui retiennent l’une contre l’autre les planches qu‘il va réunir par des clous. Ceux-ci étant enfoncés, la caisse « tient toute seule » : elle est passée du premier au second des deux états dont nous venons de rappeler la succession.
(158)
[Molding as a Great Example of the Two-Phased Process. Solidity as Consistency. Consolidation as Exterior-to-Interior Structuration-Support Transfer]
(p.158-159: “Cela est encore plus apparent ...”)
[We see these two phases of object construction in the molding process: {1} first the mold places the molding material’s parts together into a certain arrangement and holds them there. {2} Next, the material hardens into that form and keeps it all on its own. Note that two things are transferred from the mold to molded material: {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.]
[(In rough form: This is even more apparent in the process of molding; the duality of the operation’s times is marked by that of the mold itself and of the molded object. Before “the setting” of the cement, the parts of the object are already placed in the proper order, but the force that maintains this order is external to them, and it is the solidity of the mold. The mold can only be removed when it is no longer needed to provide its sustaining role, as the parts in the molding now stand on their own. The order of the parts of the molded object was first supported or determined by the order of the parts of the mold, or its form; the accomplished operation consists in a consolidation of this order, which was initially precarious and inconsistent. Something has been transported from the mold to the molded object, namely, solidity, (which may be understood as a property shared by a number of terms (here, the parts of the object) by which they maintain themselves in a certain mutual relationship and keep this ordering). We will call consolidation any operation where we discern a transporting (of constituent structural relations) of this kind, that is to say, where an order, maintained initially by its dependence on an external order, comes to be supported by an internal capacity, such that the sustaining role of the external order, having become superfluous, can be eliminated). (Main ideas in refined form: This two-step process of first arranging the parts of an object under construction by external means and secondly for that arrangement to reify is seen quite clearly in the molding process. Here, the structural relations that the object’s parts will finally take-on are built into the mold’s form, and the mold itself, under this form, is the external factor that initially gives the molded material’s parts its proper arrangement and continued support in that formation. We then see the second stage when the material hardens, and the mold’s supporting ability becomes superfluous as the material now holds its internal structure without need of additional supporting aid. This process of the relations of the object’s parts becoming self-standing is called consolidation. This happens when solidity is transferred from the mold to the molded object (or more generally from the formational process or structure to the formed object.) Solidity is the property of the parts by which they can maintain their mutual relations and conserve this ordering over time. Thus, consolidation is the operation by which there is a transfer both of constituent, structural relations and as well the capacity to maintain them. This process starts from an external influence that the constructed object initially depends upon; it then moves into the object itself, thereby endowing it with the internal capacity to maintain its constitution without the need for external support, on account of it obtaining its own solidity.) (Commentary: Here, solidity seems to be similar to what Dupréel calls “consistency” in “La consistance et la probabilité constructive” (see especially section 1.2). And “consolidation” seems to be similar to the amalgamation of similars and their formation of solids (see section 1.4).)]
Cela est encore plus apparent dans l’opération du moulage ; la dualité des temps de l’opération y apparaît marquée par celle du moule et de l’objet moulé. Avant « la prise » du ciment, les parties de l’objet sont déjà placées dans l’ordre qui convient, mais la force qui maintient cet ordre leur est extérieure, c’est la solidité du moule. Celui-ci ne peut être ôté que lorsque son rôle sustentateur est devenu inutile, les parties du moulage se tenant désormais d’elles-mêmes. L’ordre des parties de l’objet moulé était d’abord soutenu ou déterminé par l’ordre des parties du moule, ou sa forme ; l’opération accomplie consiste dans une consolidation de cet ordre, d’abord précaire et inconsistant. Quelque chose s’est transporté du moule vers l’objet moulé, c’est la solidité, ou cette | propriété pour un certain nombre de termes (ici, les parties de l’objet), de se maintenir dans un certain rapport mutuel, de conserver leur ordre. Nous appellerons consolidation toute opération où l’on discerne un transport de cette sorte, où un ordre, maintenu d’abord par sa dépendance à l’égard d’un ordre extérieur, arrive à se soutenir par une capacité interne, de telle sorte que le rôle sustentateur de l’ordre extérieur, devenu superflu, peut s’abolir.
(158-159)
[Consolidations of Coexistents]
(p.159: “Dans le cas du moulage ... ”)
[In manufactured things, the ordering of the parts is a spatial one. We call such things consolidations of coexistents (consolidés de coexistence).]
[(In rough form: In the case of molding, and in general in all manufactured materials, the consolidated order is a spatial order; it is the relation of two or more extended parts that exist simultaneously or that endure together. We call such objects consolidations of coexistents (consolidés de coexistence). All our manufactured materials are consolidations of coexistents, from a pin to a bible or even a railway network.) (Note: consolidations of coexistents is not a very literal translation, but I do not know how better to render a natural translation. I invite your suggestions.)]
Dans le cas du moulage, et en général dans tout fabricat matériel, l’ordre consolidé est un ordre spatial, c’est le rapport de position de deux ou de plusieurs parties étendues, existant simultanément ou durant ensemble : Nous dirons de tels objets que ce sont des consolidés de coexistence. Tous nos fabricats matériels sont des consolidés de coexistence, depuis une épingle jusqu’a une bible ou un réseau de chemins de fer.
(159)
[Natural Consolidated Coexistents: Puddingstone]
(p.159: “Nous venons de dégager cette notion ...”)
[This process of consolidation that we saw in human industry can also be found in natural processes, as for example in the formation of puddingstone. Here pieces of flint are fixed in place within binding materials by the soil and gravity. As the binding material solidifies, a solid rock is formed which no longer relies on the exterior supporting factors to maintain the compositional arrangement of the pebbles in the hardened binding cement. This is a natural example of consolidated coexistents.]
[(In rough form: We have just formulated this notion by considering human industry, which is an eminently finalistic activity. Now, let us note that consolidated coexistents are as much a fact of nature as they are a fact of humans. Consider a piece of puddingstone that contains two flint pebbles embedded in ferruginous cement. (Here are some images of puddingstone, from the East Herts Geology Club website:
(These beautiful images come from the East Herts Geology Club: http://ehgc.org.uk/hertfordshire-puddingstone/puddingstone-use/)
There is no doubt about the way this composite and solid body was formed. The two pebbles, rolled by the water, stopped, and then landed flat in each other’s neighborhood. Sand deposited around them and filled the gap between them; then, with the help of moisture, the sand hardened, making it all one same solid. Before this agglomeration, the order constituting the two stones considered as terms was maintained by the underlying soil combined with the attraction of the Earth (gravity) (fig. 1).
This supported ordering was therefore exterior to what would constitute our conglomerate. The change in the consistency of the sand made this support – which was once exterior – an internal support, if not to the two pebbles, at least to the object they constitute with the cement that binds them. The soil and gravity are displaced from their sustaining role; I was able to take away this piece of stone, and I can turn it in a hundred ways without altering it; it is a consolidation of coexistents (fig. 2).
)]
Nous venons de dégager cette notion en considérant l’industrie humaine, c’est-à-dire une activité éminemment finaliste. Constatons maintenant que des consolidés de coexistence sont aussi bien le fait de la seule nature que le fait des hommes. Voici un morceau de poudingue. Il contient deux cailloux de silex enrobés dans un ciment ferrugineux. La manière dont ce corps composite et solide s’est formé ne fait pas de doute. Les deux cailloux, roulés par les eaux, se sont arrêtés, posés à plat, dans le voisinage l’un de l’autre. Du sable s’est déposé autour d’eux et a comblé l’intervalle qui les séparait ; puis, l’humidité aidant, ce sable s’est durci, faisant du tout un même solide. Avant cette agglomération, l’ordre que constituaient les deux cailloux considérés comme termes, était maintenu par le sol sous-jacent combiné avec l’attraction de la Terre (fig. 1).
Cet ordre de sustentation était donc à l’extérieur de ce qui allait constituer notre conglomérat. Le changement de consistance du sable a fait que cette sustentation, d’extérieure qu‘elle était, est devenue intérieure, sinon aux deux cailloux, du moins à l’objet qu’ils constituent avec le ciment qui les lie. Le sol et la pesanteur sont évincés de leur rôle sustentateur ; j’ai pu enlever ce morceau de pierre et je peux le tourner de cent façons sans l’altérer ; c’est un consolidé de coexistence (fig. 2).
(159)
(160)
[The Prevalence of Consolidations of Coexistents in Nature]
(p.160: “Loin que ce processus soit rare ou exceptionnel ...”)
[Consolidations of coexistents are quite common in nature, as all bodies with connected parts – be they solids or things with more loosely bound parts – are consolidations of coexistents. They are all formed by this two-step process where the exterior order gives arrangement and support to the parts until they solidify.]
[(In rough form: Far from this process being rare or exceptional, there is nothing more common in nature than such consolidations of coexistents: they are everywhere. All solid bodies, all consistent beings that are formed from parts that are fused together or that are simply attached to one another, have come into existence by means of the operation we have been discussing. They all share the same history/story. A time always passes, with a duration that is sometimes quite short but often very long, during which the parts are only maintained in the relations that constitute the whole only by an exterior order of support which is followed by it obtaining its own consistency when the thing is supported by itself and from within. There are cases where the order of primitive and external support does not disappear even though it became superfluous. This would have been the case for our puddingstone had it remained, with the thousands of similar fragments, “in situ”; the sand would have maintained the two pebbles in the same position where gravity sufficed to hold them. Sometimes, on the contrary, the object at this point has become so detached from the circumstances of its formation that it is no longer possible to reconstitute it. Nevertheless, in this case, like in any other, something subsists in the object which we cannot explain by the nature of its parts, something irreducible to their properties, something which is compatible, on the contrary, with other elements, and which comes from this exterior order that is currently being eliminated.) (Main ideas in refined form: The consolidations of coexistents is quite common in nature, as it is what forms all groupings where parts come together, like in solid bodies where parts are fused or like in more loosely constituted bodies. In all cases, they follow the same course of formation: first their parts and their arrangements are supported by an external order, and following that they obtain their own consistency when they find structural support from within. Sometimes the external support remains even if it becomes superfluous to the structural supporting of the parts. For example, suppose the puddingstone remained in the place of its formation. The gravity would still be acting on the pebbles in the same supporting way, even though the hardened binding is now sufficient to keep the pebbles in their places. (I cannot grasp the following ideas well, so please see the quotation below.) Sometimes, however, the object becomes so detached from the circumstances of its formation that it can no longer be reconstituted. (I am guessing that for instances the binding of the puddingstone does not harden. But I have no clue what the idea is here.) But even in this case, there is something about the parts which is not intrinsic to them but rather is the result of external relations coming from the exterior supporting order. (So perhaps, to continue guessing, even if the binding material of the puddingstone does not harden, the arrangement of the pebbles has its ordering on account of the exterior factors like the gravity and soil structure below it.)]
Loin que ce processus soit rare ou exceptionnel, il n’est rien de plus commun dans la nature que de tels consolidés de coexistence : ils sont partout. Tous les corps solides, tous les êtres consistants formés de parties soudées ou seulement rattachées les unes aux autres, sont venus à l’existence en passant par notre opération. Ils ont tous la même histoire. Un temps, parfois très court, souvent très long, s’est toujours passé pendant lequel les parties n’étaient maintenues dans le rapport qui constitue le tout, que par un ordre de sustentation extérieur, puis est venue la consistance propre, la chose s’est soutenue d’elle-même et par le dedans. Il y a des cas où l’ordre de sustentation primitif et extérieur ne disparaît pas, quoique devenu superflu. Tel aurait été le cas pour notre morceau de poudingue s’il était demeuré, avec des milliers de fragments analogues, « in situ » ; le sable aurait maintenu les deux cailloux dans la même position où la pesanteur suffisait à les conserver. Parfois, au contraire, l’objet s’est à ce point détaché des circonstances de son élaboration qu’il n’est plus possible de les reconstituer. Il n’empêche que, dans ce cas comme dans tout autre, quelque chose subsiste, dans l’objet, qu’on ne saurait expliquer par la nature de ses parties, quelque chose d’irréductible aux propriétés de celles-ci, de compatible, au contraire, avec d’autres éléments, et qui vient de cet ordre extérieur, actuellement aboli.
(160)
[Our World of Sensible Perception as Being Composed of Consolidations of Coexistents]
(p.160: “Le monde de notre perception sensible …”)
[The world of our sensible perception is a totality of consolidations of coexistents.]
[(ditto)]
Le monde de notre perception sensible est un ensemble de consolidés de coexistence.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(160)
Dupréel, Eugène. (1949). Essais pluralistes. Paris: Presses universitaires de France.
Image Source:
East Herts Geology Club. “Puddingstone Use”.
http://ehgc.org.uk/hertfordshire-puddingstone/puddingstone-use/
Thank you very much for the beautiful pictures.
.
.
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