Gary F, Thanks for the clarification.
I dind't mean to say that irreversible processes are the "universal" final cause, although, I suppose, it could be under certain conditions. With all the best. Sung ___________________________________________________ Sungchul Ji, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy Rutgers University Piscataway, N.J. 08855 732-445-4701 www.conformon.net > Sung, > > "An end as well as a cause" is what we usually call a "final cause", in > the neo-Aristotelian analysis, and Stan Salthe has been for years been > arguing that the Second Law of thermodynamics is the final cause of just > about everything everything. Not everyone agrees with that, but the idea > of "final cause", "purpose", "telos" or whatever we call it is widely > deployed in ecology and biosemiotics these days. Tori's "pure telicism," > as Ben called it, is another story; her proposal to call telos "objective" > is unusual, and the idea of replacing the concept of "object of a sign" > with it is even more unusual. > > gary f. > > -----Original Message----- > From: Sungchul Ji [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: 31-Mar-14 2:10 PM > To: Gary Fuhrman > Cc: Peirce List > Subject: Re: [PEIRCE-L] Objects, Objectives, Objectivity > > Ben, Gary F, Lists, > > According to I. Prigogine (1917-2003), thermodynamic decay (i.e., > irreversibile processes) is essnetial for constructing dissipative > structures (e.g., the flame of a candle, action potentials, organisms, > EEG, societies, etc.). He gave two lectures at Rutgers in the 1980's > under the title > > "The Consructive Role of Irreversible Processes. > > This may be interpreted (poetically ?) to mean that thermodynamic decay is > an end as well as a cause (of dissipative structures). > > With all the best. > > Sung > >
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