FREE INQUIRY In Creative Sociology Volume 9, No 2 November 1981 181 METASOCIOLOGICAL BASE FOR A LAW OF SOCIAL BEHAVIOR
Roy G. Francis, University of South Florida
STATEMENTS AND REALITY Subjective truth is that state of affairs A distinction must be made between the whose truth is independent of any state world that is and any statement made ment made about it. Thus, the traditional about it. Similarly, a distinction must be usage of objectivity and subjectivity have made between any experience olie might little merit in science. A reasonable sub have and any statement about that experi stitution would be public for objective and ence. Statements may be right or wrong private for subjective insocial science. We representations of the world and our ex would recognize that the current meaning perience. Statements may be true or false. of objectivity is to suggest that which is Butthe world, and our experience as part of shared by a recognizable public, while per that world, simply is. sonal preferences are private; Notice that A changing world capable of being ex one's private beliefs have a subjective exis perienced, known, understood, and com tence and may well be objectified by a sci municated to others much like myself entist. exists. Its shareability must be a part of the nature of that world. ULTIMATE REALITY In an ultimate sense, truth may never be Here we must digress to consider a pos known. To judge a statementtrue requires ture regarding ultimate reality. What is the an independent knowledge of what it is we real, which explains everything, but is in try to make statements about. Since, to itself explained by nothing? What is the judge the truth value of a statement, that subjective essence of being, universally independent knowledge will be stated in a and totally true? similar form, we will end up judging one Western thinkers have offered a choice of statement against another, and be no two positions. The two possibilities were closer to ultimate truth. We end up in a that the ultimate stuff was either idea or situation where we accept some state matter. Schools of thought called idealism ments and reject others. Would that those and realism emerged, and we may be told we accept be reasonably close to truth. to join one or the other. Something like Part of our difficulty lies in the strain to realism dominates contemporary scientific wards objectivity in our scientific and thought. scholarly utterances. Behavioral scientists To understand idealism, we must recog make much of this effort without a clear nize a relation but not anisopmophism be understanding oftheepistemological prob tween idea and words. Words are vehicles lems. Consider the nature of our sentence we use to represent ideas, but ideas have structure. A typical sentence contains a subjective existence whether put in verbal subject and a predicate. The predicate, if it form or not. Physical attributes of ideas are involves a noun, contains an object. Things accidental and are not truly necessary for are regarded as objects if they tie in with the idea. Thus, a chair does not depend on verbs or prepositions. The subject simply the physical material of which it is made, is, whilethe object is an object because of a and the idea of a chair will continue long relation implied in the sentence. after and independent ofanyone instance Nothing exists as an object. Whatever of the idea. exists does so SUbjectively. It simply is. To the realist, the idea of anything is (Isn't it?) The objective status of anything epiphenomenal. Ultimate stuff is physical depends on the relation of the thing and matter. Ideas exist only as thoughts which thatto which itrelates. Grass exists, regard are physical emanations of the human less of its relation to any other thing, and brain, and without the brain, there are no regardless of what we may say about it. To ideas. In the example of chair, the idea is a goat, it may be food; to a frog, it may be imputed to the physical object, and it is the shelter; to a man, it may be a lawn. object which is accidental. An Indian ar If truth is an admissible concept, objec rowhead has a temporary physical shape, tive truth depends on the statements made. but whether it is a tie-clasp ornament or FREE INQUIRY In Creative Sociology Volume 9, No 2 November 1981 182 part of a lethal weapon is independent of sal oftime were possible, it would take time the physical stuff tb,at makes it up. to happen. Greek philosophers considered this. Distance does not have subjective exis Some in the realist school proposed that all tence either. It does not exist as though it matter ,could be divided and redivided waits for particles to line up at correct inter down to an indivisible unit which they call vals. It seems that as energy stuff relates in edatom, theindivisible. AII'stuff was made various combinations, distance is a part of up of some form ofthis primitht.. tlnf;t.\;~;'Rr... the relation. Distance is not intrinsically ciselyl" idealists might say. ' . ai, and social distance is just as ob nature of what we experience y realizable. senses. But behind even that li .. ,; t the real problem with Einstein's stuff is idea. The idea of atomekis eq..._ion goes beyond begging the ques pendent of and prior to any instance0fit.." tion ·oftime and distance. It also begs the question of ultimate reality. The metaphys- SCIENTIFIC REALISM ieaI::issue cannot be ignored. Butwe cannot ,The dispute continues, though rTlOJ to physics nor to 'contemporary entists accept realism and discou osophy of science for the answer. The gument. After all, we have de osophy of science is mainly an apology experimentally that the Greeks "were rnuclear physicsand its social apparatus. wrong. The atom has been split. Wegatbits Nuclear physics rests on an assumption of energy, expressible in algebraicorverbal which enables those scholars to ignore the mode. As Einstein asserted beforetheetom issue. That assumption is easily shown to was split, be false. e = m c 2 The common image of the atom is a where "e" is energy in electron volts, '~rn" minHolarsystem as developed by Bohr, to is mass in grams, and "c" is the v" rEinstein's work and radioactivity. Jight in centimeters per second. A· clear theory holds that this atom 'gram of matter, of any kind~ n split, and research continues to converted into energy, would.p ine an elaborate system of sub- billion billion electron volts, since and subnuclear particles, the atom, oflight is 30 billion centimeters .Greeks defined it, has not yet be'" The statement has been demon , let alone split. It will be found only be approximately correct, but it s wbentruJy indivisible particles are iden- ing about ultimate reality, and:, it tifled. portantquestions. Itdefines not ., 10.wordatom has been preempted, and to state the mathematical produ W8imustusesome other term. The concept values. The speed of light value.i. we:seek does not deal with the atom.of fromtwoconcepts-time anddista ysies, but with the character of peeked into the word speed. ~Itimate stuff may be. Further. its part is a limiting reference. It su for combination must accountfor light has an intrinsic relation Iity of the universe, including Now energy may have subjec xperience. It must have the prop.., teooe, but do time and distance exiat wb- ccounting for aft existential bel.." jectively inJtnd of themselves? I think.at. .,atom to the physical world to hu- Time is not a thing, but an aspe ,in institutional array. If light is to go somewhere, t e the ultimate reality must include what takes time. We haveobj . energy and physical properties of 8Xis~ tronomical time and use it as a tence, it is not merely energy. It must have But any activity has its own time for corn- . me ,possibility of apparent change. More pletion. The disparity betweenth . that, it mustbe knowable. It must per- taken tocomplete an enjoyableacti 98aeratization, beyond discrete in- painful action flows from an attempt to s. Thus, it cannotbedead matter. ltis ,compare the subjective time requirements active in itself and not passive nor depen.. .with an astronomical standard. In any dent on outside forces, though it must be event,timedoes nothavethesameexisten- capable of interaction. tial property that energy may have. ,.~ h it is the stuff of which energy is braic efforts to imply negative time cQf;Itti- it is &Jso the stuff of which idea is tute a symbolic game, because ifthe rever- made. The ultimate bit is neither just mate- FREE INQUIRY In Creative Sociology Volume 9, No 2 November 1981 183 rial energy nor just idea, but similtaneously existent world and our statement of it. To something from which both are derived. distinguish betweel"l belief$~"ld know Whether itis perceived as energy in aphys ledge, objective. knQIMedfJe con.sists of ical sense, or as an idea in a matter of those statemen1:$ aj)()t.It th. world whose perspective, and of our relation to it. I, thus, acceptance dEtpeln.d~On·adherence to ac avoid the duality of matter and idea. The cepted r>ules govtrn~ngtbAtir~.drJlissibility. idea of any material thing is contained in Beliefs are staterJleln.we apcept· with no the stuff of ultimate reality. Any duality governing rules orrWbich they rest. A myth flows from the human mind and from our is a somewhat organlzf«,I set Of beliefs ac penchant for objectivity, and not from the cepted as true without~._and on no basis subjectively real properties of the ultimate. of proceduraf rults.A th~ry would be a This assertion illustrates the difference be somewhat organiled.s. of statements, tween reality and statements about it. some of whi.ch are subjected to test and accepted on the basi. ofgovernillQ rUles. A IDERGY theory is organized objective knowledge. We need aword to connote these proper ties. By combining the terms idea and RULES OF IDERGY energy, we can develop the term idergy I can offer three general rules of idergy. which signifies knowable bits of stuff that They are generalizationsQf the laws of combine in particular relations. Each com thermodynamics,$U~titutingtheconcept bination generates its ownidea, and time is idergy for the conctpt,nltrgy.Th.e ;;Idvan that which is required for the fulfillment of tage of the newterrJlis thatitfitsbiological the idea. As any combination interacts with life, inclUding humanity .and sQinformation and energy exists. It is vital to information-energyexc"u~nge systems, understand that combinations of idergy biological organism, Cl;ln be similarly re have subjective integrity independent of garded, as can.social ()rgani~ations.The any statement made about them. As idea utility of the idergy cQnc::Etpt
as to the physical world. interest. Rule III. Since there is an inherent logicto The individual encounters a substan the idea implied by idergistic combina tively real part of its field, judges it, and tions, that logic will be fulflUedby an out relatestoit.lnthe relational activity, it must side force. The principle ofehtropyWiIl re objectify the thing it interacts with, and the quire a recognition thattheinteta.cthjn may interaction between the judgment and the run down. But that is part ofthel()€Jicof an relaticmalpostureis critical. The thing en interchange system which doesr\o} fedis jUdged as being 1) indifferent vide for continuous insertion of .,t,2) supportive of it, or 3)a threat of idergy, sometimes recog tnreeofthese alternatives are va lue energy, and sometimes asides. nt$; In an ultimate philosophical rocket hurtles through space, ere is no subjective neutrality. We confront each other, or a you tureanattempted objectiveneu heads for prison, once a logic is'\1 trl:iIit\',bY being indifferent to the outcome it will be fulfilled unless intercep ()f~~eother, but even the scientist in the outside force, or entropy halts t ~ratorymust determine whether the The basic stuff of existence '~ml.fl,khe encounters are or are not data, restless energy, combining into ether the data is credible. units, each instance having i.ts have illustrated systems in which integrity, as an idea struggling ".:-e!~y4nformation is exchanged. But ment. Though such a processis:~. ~~()ftheenergy may be taken as are actions and processes, biolog '''~''f'li~force,or as negative anddanger cial instances are of immedi " ...~inform!ition. Whether the information Any biological being is an idElI'S; 'is'!llf:Jemicallytransmitted, or is a.matterof tion with a logic-seeking fulfill ptry~ical or kinetic action, or is cerebrally will occur unless intercepted by pr~~ed,theidea is capable 01generat force, or halted by entropy. Fu Jf)gi..ergyconsumption and mustbe ofthe thE:lfirst lawof nature; survivalis "J!flestuffwhich makes up energy. Similarly, a person, interaq another person, can be regar MonVAnON stances of energy-information INT systems such that any humanr Either from an external source or an in its oWhlogical integrity andWillt> temEd source, two sets of forces can be unless intercepted by an outsitfEj noted. One set tends to impel behavior and the social equivalent of entropy 'the'other to prevent or restrain behavior. These forces are idergic. They may be ob QRGANISMICBEHAVIOR jectively realized as energy or idea. The We can look to any life form fOr amount of behavior is described as a func tereSting consequence ofthis p.Clif'!tcQ .tion of these two forces: (,tnd .it is most apparentinm . B = MIR ganlsms. Initially, we note t", where e denotes behavior, M the propel ,~havioroccurs ina field,whic ·lngior.motivatingforces, and Rtherestrain- case.of a situation. By thisre . S. Thus, the law is: Behaviorvarie$ imtend toUmit the domain of ith propelling forces, and in- r~.quired to understand any one.' those ofrestraint. It is ofthe form The individual, whether an am law, in which behavior is like elec wat~r, a lion on the veldt, of.a~~' nt, M is like voltage, and R isJike laboratory, is an active unit,capEtl;Jl .ceo The laV\( holds for aJI~r ... sponding to stimuli, andseeki "'efor~of energy.Itis shown tfIN "Aediatecompletion of an ideai ':iluafe to formulate Zipf's law ejf least its>behavior. It meets a subjectiw".2~1 and Stouffer's lawof intervening~ World. There is a substantiveaspect,tpits portunity, and Francis' model for birth f:)ehavior. It distinguished between the order data (Francis 1971). Regardlessofthe wboleof the field and the interestingcpa$ temporal sequence, the theory is logicalty of4hefield. In interaction With aninterest prior to the data (Francis 1957). Any. re- If'!gPart,it must have some knowle ~h verifying this form validates the ar make some judgment ofit,