Broad Physical Categories (BPC)

#broad-physical-categories #metaphysics #physics
Broad Physical Categories (BPC)

Broad physical categories are the most fundamental, most abstract concepts scientists use when understanding the physical world.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎

Scientific knowledge has given mankind sight beyond sight. Having never gone to space, Aristotle could see that the Earth is a sphere.[^1] Having never seen an atom or a molecule, the chemists of the late 1800s knew the shape of molecules.[^2] Using spectroscopy, astronomers know the chemical composition of stars, which are light years away.[^3] Science must only use data from the five senses, but somehow science allows us to understand things which are far beyond the reach of the senses.

Aristotle could see that the eclipse shadow was a circle, but it required Inference to figure out that the Earth was a sphere. He had to reason from the fact that the Earth cast a circular shadow upon the moon regardless of the angle it cast that shadow. In general, by understanding the things that we see, concepts allow us to deduce our way to Fact that we cannot see. Aristotle was able to reason from the nature of light, from the nature of a sphere, from the nature of the fact that it will block light in a certain way, and he was able to reason from these facts to deduce that the Earth had to be a sphere.

Inference allows us to discover fundamentally new things which lie beyond the reach of the senses, such as electric charge, atoms, and gravitational fields. Discovering fundamentally new classes of things, however, requires a special kind of inference, a special kind of deduction. Aristotle had seen a lot of spheres in his life; all he did was infer the existence of a sphere which was too large to directly observe. Discovering something like a gravitational field, something which is not only hidden from view but is some new type of thing which has never been seen or even dreamt of, requires a special kind of inference. This is the kind of inference that a species of blind aliens would have to make in order to discover the existence of light. This kind of inference is made possible by reasoning with broad concepts such as "entity," "property," "relationship," "action," etc.[^1]

These definitions were painstakingly arrived at by James Ellias, using the method of cross-conceptualization. Note also that these concepts listed below go in an order of a conditional hierarchy. This is the order of OPAR or Euclid's Elements.

Broad Physical Categories in Hierarchical Order:

Principle of ordering:

Existents which condition the identity of a given existent will come before that existent and will show up in the definition of that existent. If two ideas are written side by side, it means they mutually condition one another.

Existent and Identity are defined ostensively i.e. they can only be gestured to. These two words cannot be defined; they can only be gestured to. Because existent and identity are the broadest categories, you can't define them because they don't belong to a wider category. These are the basis of everything else—everything else is an existent with identity.

Category Definition
Existent Ostensive.
Identity Ostensive.
1. Entity An existent having particular properties.
1. Property An aspect of an entity’s identity.
2. Characteristic An aspect of an existent’s identity.
3. Conditioning Connection A characteristic of an existent where all or part of the identity of that existent is dependent in part on a characteristic of another existent.
4. Necessary Connection A characteristic of an existent where all or part of the identity of that existent is entirely determined by a characteristic or characteristics of certain other existents.
5. Relationship A property of an entity where a property or set of properties of that entity are conditioned by the properties of another entity.
6. Constituent Entity An entity, being in a relationship or set of relationships with another entity or set of entities, constituting a composite entity.
6. Composite Entity An entity having particular properties conditioned by a set of constituent entities and the relationships between them.
7. Matter The constituent entities which make up a composite entity.
8. Form The set of relationships between the constituent entities of a composite entity.
9. Material conditioning A conditioning connection between the matter of an entity and its properties.
10. Formal Conditioning A conditioning connection between the form of an entity and its properties.
11. Efficient Conditioning A conditioning connection between the properties of a first entity and the properties of a second entity it is in a relationship with.
12. Passive Conditioning A conditioning connection between the properties of a first entity and the way the properties of a second entity condition the first entity’s properties when in a relationship.
13. Material entity An entity having particular properties which are the result of material conditioning.
14. Formal entity An entity having particular properties which are the result of formal conditioning.
15. Action The formation or dissolution of a relationship.
16. Causal Connection A conditioning connection involving action.
17. Cause A property of an entity which conditions the properties of another entity through action. Cause always comes before the properties it conditions.
18. Effect A property or set of properties of an entity which are conditioned by a certain cause. Effect always comes after cause.
19. Material cause A material conditioning connection between an entity’s matter and its actions.
20. Formal cause A formal conditioning connection between an entity’s form and its actions.
21. Efficient cause A conditioning connection between the actions of a first entity and the properties of a second entity.
22. Passive Cause A conditioning connection between the properties of a first entity and the way its other properties will change when it is subject to the actions of a second entity.
23. Process A set of actions each action conditioning the next.

Broad Physical Categories Ordered by Subsumptive Relationships:

Principle of ordering:

Terms which are subcategories of others are written as subheadings of the broader category of which they are a subcategory.

  1. Entity

  2. Characteristic

[^1] Lists and definitions provided by James Ellias— Broad Physical Categories: A Vocabulary for Making Inferences Beyond Observation