Re: infinite regresses

DON MIKULECKY (MIKULECKY@VCUVAX.BITNET)
Thu, 23 Feb 1995 10:34:37 -0400


Don Mikulecky, MCV/VCU, Mikulecky@gems.vcu.edu
Reply to Onar.
Sorry, I had missed your point about the human aspects of defining life!
I think you are perfectly correct, the Aristotilian (sp?) definition
of causality is certainly a sociological one. It has been more or
less dismissed by science since Descartes. Especially the final cause.
In many of his works Rosen discusses this. He often centers the
discussion around opposing points of view from physicists and social
scientists with appropriate quotes to illustrate the hardness of the
two positions. The introduction to Anticipatory Systems, he talks
about Hutchins, the young president of the Univ. of Chicago with
a certain nostalgia that I share. In Life Itself, he again compares
some of Hutchins views as an educator and sociologist with those of
a famous physicist. The whole reductionist/complexity dialogue is
interesting in that context. Once again, sorry I had missed your
point, I think it is at the root of a lot that's going on!
Don Mikulecky