Appendix: The Nature of the Physical World in the Light of the Theory of Categories

Abstract

In the corporeal world two sharply contrasting parts are distinguished. One of these, comprising the solid, fluid, and gaseous bodies, constitutes the aggregate mass of so-called matter; the other is the ether. Concerning the nature of the latter, there is a wide difference of opinion among-scientists. Some would conceive it as consisting of tiny discrete particles moving continuously at extremely high velocities; others, as a homogeneous cohesive continuum which, unlike the corporeal masses, is not subject to the principle of impenetrability. The ether is supposed to be the medium in which light and electricity are propagated.