The application of logistic concepts to the explication of some concepts in natural science

Abstract

The authors had two ends in writing their essay: (1) to show the usefulness of the concepts of contemporary logic for the sciences; (2) to show the objective character of logical concepts and their applicability to the description of nature. The following concepts: ,,blood group", ,,phenotype" and ,,genotype" have been selected as examples to be explicated, their considerable practical or theoretical importance being the criterion of choice. Logical means applied in defining these concepts are simple. Most important here is the method of defining by abstraction. The usefulness of this method is known from other domains (e. g. definition of natural numbers). By showing how such complex concepts as ,,blood group", ,,phenoand genotype" may be reduced to simpler concepts, namely to the concepts of some direct relations holding between organisms or their elements, the method of defining by abstraction is likely to become an ally in the fight against the remnants of idealistic faults in biology. The term ,,blood group" has been defined by Prof. L. Hirszfeld, the eminent research-worker in hematology, in terms of imperceptible particles -isoglutinines and anti-isoglutinines. The authors endeavour to show that to define the concept ,,blood group" it is sufficient to introduce the equality-relation of nonantagonisticity defined as follows: ,,the blood x is nonantagonistic with the blood y if and only if the serum of x does not agglutinize the erythrocytes o f y and conversely". The Known blood groups 0, A, B and AB may then be defined as classes of abstraction with respect to this relation or as qualities common to all elements standing to a given element in this relation. In order to define a phenotype of e. g. guinea-pig i n respect to a general quality (e. g. the shape of the hair) it is sufficient to make precise the concepts of respective particular qualities with whirh (or with the classes of objects possessing such qualities) the phenotypes prove to be identical. Here are exampIes of