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by Corry Shores
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[Eugène Dupréel, entry directory]
An entry directory for this text without the brief summaries can be found here:
Dupréel (ED) Essais pluralistes, entry directory
[The following collects the brief summaries for this text. Bracketed commentary is my own, as is any boldface. Proofreading is incomplete, so please forgive my typos. And please consult the original text to be sure about the contents (see bibliography below).]
Collected Brief Summaries 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]
[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]
(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.
Probabilité de la Consolidation
[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]
(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.
6.4
Les Consolidés de Succession
[Consolidations of Successions, in General]
[The Consolidation of Temporal Parts]
[The Factory Setting of a Manufactured Clock as an Example of a Consolidation of a Succession]
[Moving to Cases without Human Consciousness]
[Illustration: Merchants Taking Up the Yearly Ritual that They are Internally a Part of]
[Social Institutions and the Constitution of Social Groups]
[An Example of Social Institution Consolidations of Succession: The Passing on of Rules or Values for a Social Group]
[The Transfer of Exterior Interests to Interior Mental Life in the Moral Code Example]
[Turning Now to Psychology]
[An Example of Psychological Consolidation of Succession: Memorizing a Fable]
[Consolidations of Succession by Means of Institutional Social Pressures. An Example: All of One’s Time Being Structured by Employers.]
[Exterior Constraints as Creating the Conditions for Willful Internalization of Temporal Structuring]
[A Recapitulation: Reviewing Our Example-Types]
[Turning to the Purely Biological: Life is a Consolidation of Succession]
[Living Bodies as Combinations of Consolidations of Succession, Involving Also Consolidations of Coexistents]
[Living Bodies as Consolidation in General (as Combinations of Consolidations of Succession and of Coexistents)]
[The Vital Relationship (rapport vital). Vital and Temporal Relationships, Symbolized as V/V′]
[The Interval Between Successive Returns and Its Effect on the Probability of Consolidation]
[Non-Biological but Natural Consolidations of Succession]
[Interval Length and Support Influence]
[Vital Relationship Frequency and Interval Structuring
[The Influence of the Exterior Regulating Forces of Sustainment on the Consolidation]
[Transfer of Force in Consolidation]
[Consolidational Force as Vital Force]
[The Lack of Vital Consolidations in Animate Nature]
[Evolutions of Vital Consolidations]
[The Invisibility of the Mechanisms of Order-Transfer in Living Beings]
[The Inaccessible Object of Study in Biology]
[Consolidatory Emergence as Existing on Various Orders]
(6.4.1.1) As we saw before, in consolidations of coexistents, the spatially related parts first gain their spatial order by an external supporting factor that then is internalized into the generated object which is now able to sustain the spatial organization of its parts all on its own. We would suspect that the same thing would hold for consolidations where the parts are temporal components. The external supporting factor would order the phases into a series that then becomes self-sustained, either as a homogenous series where one occurrence A repeats, like A, A′, A′′, etc., or as a heterogeneous series where occurrence B follows from occurrence A. (6.4.1.2) An example in manufacture of the production of a consolidation of succession is the fashioning and final setting of a clock. At some point, all the clock’s parts will be put in place such that it is capable of sustaining regular motion. At this point it is still only a consolidation of coexistents. It becomes a consolidation of succession when its motion is synchronized to the movement of the earth. The earth’s movement begins as the ultimate supporting structure that will become internalized into the clock’s workings and remain self-sustained there. This is done by means of a stopwatch, which was also informed by the earth’s movement, and the watchmaker uses the stopwatch to synchronize the clock with the earth’s movement such that the clock’s hour-hand makes exactly two rotations around the dial for every one complete rotation of the earth. This external ordering of the earth thereby becomes internalized, consolidating the movements in the clock such that the completions of the hour hand’s movements follow the order of the earth’s movement, only now without need of its external regulation. (6.4.1.3) But not all cases like the instance of the manufactured and set clock will involve human consciousnesses serving as the ends of the consolidation. (6.4.1.4) Dupréel then gives an illustration for how this can work for social formations and customs.
We begin with a pattern of occurrences, namely, the yearly performance of a ritual that is conducted by a fraternal order, that is attended by the public, and that involves merchants providing refreshments and the sale of small items for the attendees. Here the fraternal order is the external supporting factor that gives ordering to the occurrences, namely, it organizes the event such that it is successfully carried out once every year. But the fraternal order decides to quit, and so the merchants band together and take up the process themselves. They, while still being internal to the festival, are now also what sustains its yearly cycling, because they now do the organizing and performing. (6.4.1.5) This merchant ritual illustration shows the two phases where first the external order holds the succession in place and then secondly it transfers internally such that the succession maintains without need of exterior support. But what is important with this example is that we are dealing now with a social institution that forms the constitution of a social group in which the operations of consistency go beyond any particular individuals who may happen to find themselves a part of this social institution. (6.4.1.6) We see such social instituting that involves the consolidation of succession in the way that morality or even arbitrary social rules are adopted and perpetuated by groups. It may start for example as a rule that many people agree to and follow only because it benefits each of them personally. But to benefit from the rule requires them to enforce it so that everyone follows it and also to pass it on to the next generation. So the rule that was once obeyed for selfish reasons is then later taken up in future generations by people who follow it thinking that it has good in itself, and thus they carry it on without those selfish interests that originally instituted it. (6.4.1.7) In this example of the passed-on moral code, the exterior order is the selfish interests of the original group members; these interests exist outside moral conscience and are based largely on material circumstances. But after the process of passing the code on to the next generation, the rule is supported by the individuals’ management of their own psychological impulses. In this way, the exterior order of interests is substituted by the interior order of conscience. (6.4.1.8) We will see this mechanism now in a psychological context, but it will be a little less obvious how it all works. (6.4.1.9) We see this process of the consolidation of succession on the psychological level in cases of memorization. Consider for instance a child who is trying to learn a fable by heart. The exterior order is given as the series of words on the page. When they recite it while still learning it, they will notice gaps in their memory, and each time turn back to the page to relearn the forgotten parts. But once it is sufficiently memorized, the print text becomes superfluous as the ordering has been completely internalized. (6.4.1.10) The mechanism involved in the psychological internalization of exterior temporalized orders is hard to pinpoint; but it is much easier to locate it in social occurrences, because there we can more readily see the power structures that impose their organizing influences upon the behaviors of individuals. For instance, when we work a job, our working hours are set and structured by the institution we work for, and our free time is ours to shape whatever way we see fit. This example shows how this socially instituted time-patterning works: there are recurring occurrences (namely, our regular performances at work, forced externally by our work institution) and between them are the intervening intervals (namely, the free off-time spent at one’s will). But the very imposition of temporalized working structures also organizes our off-time’s conditions and activities. When we first get the job, we live far away, and we take a drudgerous train ride to work and back each day. Finally, we get sick of this commute and move closer. So the free interval of time between periods of working also comes under the influence of the organizing authority of our job institution. (6.4.1.11) Also, the exterior influence, which may begin by placing unwanted constraints on an individual to structure their time in a certain way, may also thereby create conditions for the individual to willingly internalize this structuration of their daily rhythms. For instance, a child may begin to go to school unwilling and under the force of their parents. But then at school they regularly encounter playmates, and they enjoy their in-school playtime much more than when they must play all by themselves at home. They soon come to willingly go to school, and any external constraining force compelling them to do so becomes superfluous. (6.4.1.12) We have thus seen different sorts of consolidations of succession by considering concrete cases. We saw it in the human manufacture of products having a temporalized ordering, in the passing-on of social and moral codes, and also in purely psychological processes, like the building of memory. (6.4.1.13) This applies to the purely biological; for, life is a consolidation of succession. (6.4.1.14) More precisely, living bodies are combinations of consolidations of succession. This of course also involves the workings of consolidations of coexistents. (6.4.1.15) Thus living bodies are a combination of consolidations of coexistents and of consolidations of succession. Generally speaking, we can say that what institutes life is the operation of consolidation, which bridges brute matter and the organic world. (6.4.1.16) A vital relationship (rapport vital) is one that is held between any two terms and that is kept constant by vital activity (with ‘vital’ being undefined so probably taking a conventional sense, like ‘living’ understood biologically, socially, etc.). Vital relations originate in prior orders, and they span across varieties of instances both simultaneous and successive. For instances, the vital relationship between the two sexes comes from a former order, and it spans across many species at any one time and across many generations and species’ evolutions over time. When you have two regulated functions set to succeed one another, it is a vital and temporal relationship, which we will write as V/V′ (possibly with the first V being vital function 1, the second V, or V prime, as vital function 2, and the slash being their vital relationship, as vital activity causes them to often succeed one another.) (6.4.1.17) Whether or not a succession of repeating events becomes consolidated or not is a matter of probability, which increases or decreases depending on how small or large the interval is between them. When it is small, their periodic returns are more frequent, making them more likely to consolidate such that they return without the need of exterior influence. (6.4.1.18) Some consolidations are sustained in biological processes, and so their naturalness is obvious from their being biological. But others without this biological component can still be natural, like the return of the seasons, the changes from night to day, the tides, and so on. (6.4.1.19) The greater the temporal interval between successive returns, the less influence the supporting structure will have on the contents of the interval. For instance, were the employee called to work only once every other month, they will no longer feel the need to live closer to the workplace, and they are free to reside a great distance away, if they choose. (6.4.1.20) At first for a vital relationship, the recurrent functions will have an interval between them that is not very regulated. But over time, as the recurrences continue, the interval between them will also develop regularities that will support the continuation of the vital relationship. (6.4.1.21) Suppose we have a vital function V that is in a vital relationship with another one, V′; if the force ensuring that V′ follows after V is very weak, then of course there is a strong chance that the succession will be disrupted or eliminated altogether. For illustration, compare two situations. In the first one, there is an employee who lives very far away from work, and so they come an hour late every day. The boss in this case is very lenient and allows this to continue. The employee then will not feel enough compulsion to move their residence closer to the workplace, but this results in them losing a lot of time and joy for the daily commute. In the second case, the boss is strict, which ultimately forces the employee to move closer. This makes the employee a more effective worker and overall improves their life. Here, the strictness of the work regulations is the sustaining external order. (6.4.1.22) Yes, consolidation involves a transfer of order from the external sustaining factors to the internal ones. But along with that transfer of the order itself there needs to be a transfer or generation from the exterior factors of the force to keep that order intact over time. (6.4.1.23) The force of consolidation is equivalent to what is called vital force, which in classical debates was understood in the same way and as not being reducible to the physical and chemical factors lying at the basis of this force that ensures the consolidation of vital functions. (6.4.1.24) (While we came to a picture of the vital consolidations in living beings by analogy with the socially constructed consolidations of succession, we cannot similarly find these biological sorts of vital consolidations in inanimate nature.) (6.4.1.25) Even as vital processes consolidate, by means of that very same consolidation, there may be created conditions that will generate alternate consolidations. (This is something like an evolutionary process.) So in living beings, we should never assume that there is a final or ultimate consolidation. (6.4.1.26) But although we can know that such vital, biological processes involve consolidation, we cannot see the mechanisms that transfer exterior orders of sustainment to internal consistencies. But we can see these mechanisms in sociological cases, and so we tentatively attribute them to the biological cases, even though they remain unseen. (Perhaps, for example, what made a certain creature active at night and sleep at day was a complex set of environmental conditions along with evolutionary mechanisms that set these patterns in place. But we never see these exterior influences in a creature. We only see their effects in the creature’s given nature. So we just hypothetically attribute this order-transferring process to living beings). (6.4.1.27) Biology, then, studies something whose causality is found in a stage coming before the one that is given and that cannot be precisely discerned from the physical, chemical, and mechanical properties of what is given. (6.4.1.28) In living beings, there is something vital in their matter that is over and above their physical, chemical, and mechanical nature. In biological philosophy we call this emergence. But it is not enough to simply note this vital emergence of living beings. We need also to explain how it transpires. The way we did this was by comparison to the emergences in social phenomena, especially in human product manufacture, but also in psychological cases, where the features of the mechanisms of the emergence are more apparent. The emergence by means of the consolidation of order is something common in all these cases; it is a general mechanism, a formal scheme, that is based on logical relations that are held between any terms whatsoever and that can be found in space, time, and activity.
Dupréel, Eugène. (1949). Essais pluralistes. Paris: Presses universitaires de France.
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