Re: Group Entity "Illusion"

James Ganong (JGanong@webtv.net)
Sat, 23 Jan 1999 03:56:05 -0800 (PST)

The Market would seem to fit certain criteria' matching those of a collective/conceptual entity,
despite being a set of relationships of objects. Indeed, the Economy would also seem to fit these criteria. Even if the Economy is viewed as a stage where interactions are played out, there must be entities such as nations & corporations playing their roles, in addition to the individual humans.

I guess my point is that Ayn Rand was wrong; there are plenty of things consisting of smaller
(semi)autonomous units that act as & are treated by others as discreet
entities. Doesn't systems theory have something to say about whether or nor something is a discreet entity depends on what level of organization within a system you are analysing @ the moment?