Chemism

Abstract

All concrete systems are physical entities, in that they possess energy— a measure of changeability (Vol. 3, Postulate 5.3). However, some concrete systems are more than just physical entities, in the sense that the categories of physics are insufficient to account for them. For example, some are social systems. And although some of the concepts of physics — in particular the notion of energy — are necessary to account for any society, most are unnecessary. On the other hand social science requires new concepts, such as those of artifact, social group, justice, and culture. The peculiar concepts of social science are supposed to represent emergent properties of a society, i.e. properties that are not possessed by its components. Likewise the study of the components of any society, i.e. social animals, calls for a number of distinctly biological categories, such as reproduction, sex, and death. And if the animals happen to have a highly evolved nervous system, we shall need still other categories, such as the concepts of altruism and planning, which are usually regarded as psychological. Finally, organisms are composed of chemical systems, which are physical entities of a very special kind, namely composed of atoms and molecules engaged in chemical reactions.