Cover of 1967 (315-pg) edition of Leon Winiarski's 1898 Essay on Social Mechanics (collected works) compiled by Swiss sociologist Giovanni Busino. [6]

“Desire may or may not be a form of energy. In any case it is certain that a mechanical interpretation cannot help to predict the choices of people.”

In a booklet whose text was first published in the Philosophical Review, Winiarski proposes a methodology to provide sociology with a guiding principle and give it a scientific rigor. The various factors - geographical, intellectual, moral or ethnicity - which in turn was attributed significant importance to the point of view of social evolution, not exclusive to the author's eyes, but they are only the partial elements of a more general phenomenon, as well as cosmic phenomena or organic, is subject to the laws of mechanics. Already, the pure economics, seeking action of mechanical laws to the facts it studies has built a system a satisfactory cohesion. It belongs to the sociology of engaging in a similar way.

Individuals, identified as the molecules of a social aggregate, are sought, and the atoms of a material system, by forces of attraction and repulsion. The biological energy, which is in each of them tends to achieve maximum pleasure, and competition between individuals, to obtain the maximum each for himself, sets the price of property, both tangible and intangible. The setting of this course of values, that the pleasure has achieved a measure, certify that bioenergy has a quantitative value as well as cosmic energy from which it derives. But this quantitative value, which science may one day no doubt determine the exact equivalent can now be applied to social facts the general principles of mechanics.

I am tempted to send Mr. Winiarski criticism. Why he called selfish and altruistic one hand on the other hand the forces of competition tends to be the balance of the moral world? Selfishness is it not by itself a principle sufficient to reconstruct the moral world the forces of attraction and repulsion that occur in any cosmic system? If these forces must be given a new name when carried out in this moral field, the words love and hate, or sympathy and antipathy, does not correspond with a more precise symmetry in attraction and repulsion, are not they not to each other more closely balances?

It does not appear in fact that altruism can be contrasted with selfishness as if the concepts contained in these words applied to two equal states, and antagonists of the same fore earlier. Selfishness is itself an anterior force. It is the only possible act of principle, because we cannot think of an act which originates outside the individual who runs it. Altruism is a more complex form of egoism, selfishness, taking the name of altruism when the person requires as a condition of his happiness, the support of the happiness of others. Because of this complexity, it presents a number of different cases, and although they all show their roots immersed in the ego, their genesis lends to different interpretations: it seems they can in turn be derived from a surplus of ego strength, manifested in feelings of protection, or rather a failure of me retires fun things they contain. Altruism is when a loan has the power to remove the others happy things, hidden and borrowing that accompanies the logical desire to provide others, taken as a necessary intermediary, opportunities for fun. Such is the case of the ambition of the fathers achieved by the son. This is idealized in the field of fiction, by the genius of Halzac, the meaning of the pact reached between Vautrin and Rubempre. But in one as in the other cases, altruism appears a direct manifestation of selfishness, leading, as selfishness luimême form of hatred of what opposes it and love for the favors, the forces of repulsion and attraction. It is not itself inherently one of those forces. '

This criticism, which deals only with the terminology, support also seems to me rather than contradicts the general theory of Winiarski. It aiiisi in Chapter II on the island social energy transformations, the author specifically a reconstruction of psychological tendencies and moral complex, on the one linse mobile selfish as basic: hunger. It is impossible in this limited space to list a series of ideas presented in their already low volume in the shortcut substantial pamphlet. I'll post at least to readers of Celtic magazine they find, among the developments of this begs a framework in which to return the ideological curious essay on the genius they enjoyed here the original value.

(577-581)

Loving children, parents love themselves: it is therefore not surprising that protect them and try to make them like himself through education. The feelings of sympathy have been the main source for the bonds of blood and were expanded over time to people outside. The amoeba is divided into two parts, each of these in two others and so on ad infinitum; elementary cells so appeared or group together in colonies or in complex organisms, and they naturally tend to unite, because so may make it easier for their struggle with the outside world, their struggle for nutrition. At the heart of union sympathy reigns based on blood ties, but towards the outer world it is dominated by hate and leaning on hunger. The same occurs at the superior organizations: the union with the child's biological mother becomes longer, lasting several months, after which appears the care of parents, especially her mother, her children, the influence of education on young generations, etc.. The biological constraints and claims is complicated by sociological constraints, but these are only the continuation and development of those. The new generation assimilates the qualities of the old by another way, as well as heredity. The descendant is in the living conditions and environment are similar to those of their ancestors. For this you can see the transition from generation to generation, to create habits for a long time, and this fact forms the origin of 'tradition in the series of generations. On the other hand education in the common youth and his giuoclii are the source of solidarity among members of the same generation. It is therefore easy to see how all these social sentiments the following procreation: the union between parents and children or between brothers and sisters can be regarded as a union between members of that body, a union may not exceed certain limits. So the association itself-is divided into groups, but the affection between them always exists. These are the simplest manifestations of tilt procreative love. The manifestations of hunger then are: hatred, cruelty, which knows no limit and devoured in origin living thing that is weak or is beyond the limits of the social union. Let's see how these two needs brutality, hunger and love, more and more subtleties, physical and social phenomena have produced very complicated.

(582-###)

10: The Social Energy | L’Energie Sociale
The following is from page 257:

...primitive, il s’etablit déjà automatique ment un certain ordre, ou certain pouvoir, un certain droit et une certaine morale : tout simplement parce que l’energie passé d’en haut en bas et non inversement. Mais justement parce que le raymonnement de l’energie se fait ainsi, il y a tendance vers l’egalisation de ses intensites differentes, jusqu’a un etat d’equilibre indifferent ou toutes les transformations s’arretent. C’est ce qu’on appelle dissipation de l’entropie, une nouvelle function de la thermodynamique, appelee ainsi par Clausius. Le caractere imperative de la morale, du droit, etc., ne presente rien de special et de mysterieux; il entre tres bien sous l’action des lois de la mecanique et veut seulement dire que certaines transformation d’energie, qui leur correspondent, sout irreversibiles. Mais comme tous les cycles irreversible tendent dans leur evolution vers un etat de reversibilite complete qui seule assure un maximum, le caractere obligatoire et imperative des institutions socials s’affaiblit avec le cours de tempt. [19]

...primitive, he moved over automatically have a certain order, or some power, some right and some moral: just because the energy spent to up and down and not vice versa. But precisely because of the energy Raymone is so, there is a tendency toward the equalization of its different intensities, until a state of indifferent equilibrium or all changes have drawn up. This is called the dissipation of entropy, a new function of thermodynamics, so called by Clausius. The imperative nature of morality, law, etc., does nothing special and mysterious it very well in between the action of the laws of mechanics and just means that some transformation of energy, which correspond to irreversibilities. But like all irreversible cycles tend to their evolution towards a state of full reversibility ensures that only a maximum, the binding nature and imperative of social institutions weakens over the course of time. [19] Note 19: With the conditions of complete reversibility in the second principle: is in fact the starting point for another reason. If experience leads us to establishing the equation: [or meaning closed line or path integral?] for a closed cycle and reversible, it should be a function of independent variables do not sear the differential an exact differential. In other words: or S is a function of x and y, such that dS, will be an exact differential on a plot of x and y. It is this function that S that Clausius has called the name of entropy, a function which presents some analogy with that of the energy (U). Indeed, the like energy, entropy is a property of the body completely determined by the current values of variables and it follows that pet always be translated by a formula which expresses the function of these independent variables. As for energy incurs, its value should not depend of the path followed by a body to reach its current state, in case this is not a full cycle of operations. One can always express entropy by the equation: but only, of course, for a reversible cycle.

The following is a bit from page 259:

Comme, en thermodynamique, la chaleur uniformement repandue et qui pour cela ne peute plus passer en travial utile n’est qu’un etat ideal que l’universene realisera jamais peut-etre, de meme dans l’univer social, l’egalisation complete des egoism des classes et individus qui rendrait tout travial utile impossible n’est qu’un etat purement theorique.

As in thermodynamics, heat uniformly spread and for that reason can not go into a state travial useful is ideal universene will realize that may never be, the same in the university office, complete equalization egoism of classes and individuals which would make that impossible is useful travial state purely theoretical.