Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
see the question mark next to the vertical double arrow by using the relations among
the components of F based on the assumption that a set of similarity relations (see
the horizontal arrows) holds between components of F and the corresponding
components of U.
The cell language theory (see Table 6.3 ) formulated on the basis of the similarity
between the properties of living cells and those of human language may be viewed
as one of the most detailed examples of the application of the “table theory.”
6.3.5 The Principle of Mo ˝ bius Relations
The M
obius strip is “a one-sided surface that is constructed from rectangle by
holding one end fixed, rotating the opposite end through 180 , and applying it to the
first end” [ Webster's Ninth New College Dictionary ]. The essential geometric
properties of the M
obius strip may be characterized in terms of the following two
propositions:
The M
obius strip consists of two opposite surfaces, A and B, when viewed locally.
(6.38)
Surfaces, A and B, merge into one another when viewed globally.
(6.39)
Statements 6.38 and 6.39 may be combined into one:
Locally A or B; globally A and B.
(6.40)
Statement 6.40 may be viewed as an alternative expression of what is referred to
as the global-local complementarity (or the forest-tree complementarity ). In all
these statements, the terms “local” and “global” may be replaced with “synchronic”
and “diachronic,” respectively. For the definitions of “synchronicity” and
“diachronicity,” see Sects. 4.5 and 6.3.2 .
6.3.6 The Pragmatic Maxim of Peirce
According to Peirce, the meaning of a word or a concept can be equated with the
totality of the practical effects or consequences that the word has in life:
In order to ascertain the meaning of an intellectual conception one should consider what
practical consequences might conceivably result by necessity from the truth of that con-
ception; and the sum of these consequences will constitute the entire meaning of the
conception. (Goudge 1969, p. 153)
(6.41)
This maxim will become useful in defining the meaning of life in Sect. 16.1 .
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