In hmolscience, anthropic physics or “physik anthropik”, a near synonym of human physics (Adolphe Quetelet, 1835) or humanized physics (Edwin Slosson, 1910), is a term used by German physical chemist Wilhelm Ostwald in his 1912 The Energetic Imperative on the energetics of morality and culture, supposedly used in the sense of meaning the science of the physical chemistry of humans; a term which would be derived from the combining form of Ancient Greek ἄνθρωπος (anthrōpos), meaning“man, human”. [1]
Overview
In 1912, Wilhelm Ostwald, in his The Energetic Imperative, defined anthropic physics as follows:
“We recognize the logic of general science, because they are dealing with the most general terms. In mathematics these are already specialized, because the size, which constitutes the central concept of mathematics is by no means all things. She defines as an already great variety of relationships, which are given by the much richer content of the concept of size. Even more specifically, the science which takes the concepts of time and space to do so; it is called geometry, kinematics and kinetics in a somewhat arbitrary division.
These sciences can all be summed up in a large group for which the fundamental concept of order shall prevail. They probably called formal sciences and sets them against the other as the real one. This is not right if it is to represent a fundamental difference: they're just the sciences of the most general properties of things.
There now follows a group of physical sciences, which are referred to as mechanics, physics and chemistry. They also correspond to an increasing diversity of the considered properties or relations and have also its summary term. This is the concept of energy, such as the physical sciences can be summarized as the study of the various activities of the energy.
A third group of science connect to physiology, psychology and cultural studies. The last one has been referred to sociology, however, proves to be too narrow in the name of the general position that we adopt here, because the association is only one of the tools of culture. All of these studies can be used as the biological, combine the sciences of life, the physiology of the most general and therefore also the lowest areas of the phenomena of life are assigned, while psychology has with the mental phenomena in animals, how to do in humans. The last and highest science is at last, which is about the people and their special properties. It would mean the best anthropology, had not taken this name for a small part of this overall research already being implemented. Maybe you can call them on the analogy of the name of anthropic physics.
One may claim that can be accommodated in this simple scheme, all sciences, there is currently and place in the foreseeable future.
I make myself prepared to find that you will consider this claim in doubt and, for example, mention that great science, like medicine, astronomy, philology, history, etc., are not taken into account. It is noted that the scheme applies only to the pure sciences, i.e. to the sciences as they are to remember the image used earlier, driven because of the completeness and order of the camp. The so-called applied sciences should better have a different name, as they were earlier called for adequate arts. So the medicine is an art for which their proper exercise requires knowledge of almost all pure science, from logic to anthrop. Similarly, the story is not a science in itself, but a general scientific method, because we use them as well in mathematics, as in politics. We have seen that all the knowledge of the past serves as our basis for the foresight of the future, so they can never do without and it is unacceptable to want to make it a special area. And in a similar way one can get along in all such questions of methodology.
I made this last, somewhat scrawny considerations in order to give everyone the feeling of assurance that in fact the scientific knowledge are at present so far, not the propagation of science everything that mankind can do with success at the task as far as an incomprehensible gift of higher powers to accept, but as a crop for which the garden of humanity must be regularly appointed and can, and the richer fails, the rational order is executed. Our ancestors believed that the yield of the fields depended on the favorable attitude of the gods, and means to increase yields were victims in this field to gods. We no longer believe in god’s field, but we believe in potash, nitrogen and phosphate, with the result that our fields are now wearing the multiple of the preceding years. This faith has taught us a man of science, namely, Justus Liebig, whose effectiveness is still great and a long period, one of the most brilliant title to fame of the good city of Munich and will be. And wherever we look, everywhere we connect similar feats against the science. If it is more urgent today than ever a question to put all our people an enjoyable and worth living in fate: what body we can turn to good effect to achieve this great goal? There is no other than science, the science that we bow to the raw energy of nature with ever-increasing quality conditions at our will and teaches us to subdue the earth.”
To repeat, one of the best excerpts from this passage is:
“Our ancestors believed that the yield of the fields depended on the favorable attitude of the gods, and means to increase yields were victims in this field to gods. We no longer believe in god’s field, but we believe in potash, nitrogen and phosphate, with the result that our fields are now wearing the multiple of the preceding years.”
This, he says, whereas our ancestors used to believe in the existence of gods or god, we now believe in the existence of elements governed by the physical sciences. A very cogent statement indeed.
Anthropic thermodynamics
The technical-correct modern English version of this term, knowing that Ostwald’s version of energetics evolved into what has come to be known as chemical thermodynamics, would be anthro-thermodynamics or anthrothermodynamics a Greek-based version of “human thermodynamics”, in the sense of anthropology being the science of humans.
Anthropology, in the modern sense, however, has become a rather watered-down soft science, that studies humans in relation to distribution, origin, classification, and relationships of races, physical character, environmental and social relations, and culture. [2] This is evidenced by the watered down nature of the so-called subject of "anthropological thermodynamics".
References
1. (a) Ostwald, Wilhelm. (1912). Der Energetische Imperativ (The Energetic Imperative) (physik anthropic, pg. 53). Leipzig: Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft.
(b) Lovelace, B.F. (1913). “Review: Der Energetische Imperativ.” American Chemical Journal, 46: 163-64.
(b) anthropo- (definition) – Wiktionary.
2. Anthropology (1593) – Merriam-Webster.
