The term "organic theory" is quite ambiguous. Most often it belongs to two doctrines belonging to completely different disciplines - political science and chemistry. In the first case, it is about the origin of the state, in the second - about the properties of organic substances. Although the authors of these concepts (Herbert Spencer and Alexander Butlerov) acted on opposite fronts of science, they used approximately the same logical and research principles.
The emergence of the state
In the XIX century in political science, an organic theory of the origin of the state appeared. It has been formed over time. Its first premises can be found in documents of antiquity. Organic theory comes down to the fact that the state is considered a kind of likeness of the human body.
This idea was propagated by some ancient Greek thinkers. For example, Aristotle thought so. His organic theory of the origin of the state was an argument in favor of the fact that the state and society are inseparable - they are a single whole. So Aristotle argued that man is a social being who cannot live in isolation from the outside world.
Doctrine of spencer
The key adherent of this theory in the 19th century was Herbert Spencer. It was he who became the founder of the modern interpretation of organic ideas in sociology. The English thinker considered the state, first of all, from a public perspective. He summarized the ideas of his predecessors and formulated a new theory. According to her, the state is a social organism, consisting of many parts. As these "details" are ordinary people.
Thus, for Spencer, the organic theory of the state is proof of the idea that the state will exist as long as human society exists. These two phenomena are inherently inseparable from each other. A huge set of people cannot get along without the organization of power that could regulate relations within this seething mass. In other words, human being has two most important principles of existence - social and natural.
Power and society
Spencer's organic theory of the state says that the state dominates people, as the whole dominates its constituent parts. At the same time, the government has obligations that it must fulfill. In order for the cells to function normally, a healthy body is needed. And it depends only on the authorities whether the environment in the country will favor a productive and happy life.
The organic theory of origin says that in the case of a state disease, the ailment is transferred to all its functions. For example, with corruption, the economy suffers. Then its collapse is reflected in people's lives. The decline in wealth leads to social tension and other phenomena dangerous to stability. The state and society form a system in which absolutely everything is interconnected. This principle is the reason that the lack of power is reflected in the lives of citizens.
The next stage of human development
It is curious that organic theory in political science has its roots in Darwin's evolutionary doctrine. At one time, the British scientist made a real scientific revolution, suggesting that all biological species appeared as a result of the struggle for survival and gradual development from generation to generation.
Darwin explained that man descended from a monkey. Proponents of the organic theory of the state used this thesis. They wondered what the next stage of human development is. Organic theory offers its own reasoned answer. The development of people has led them to come together in the framework of a state institution. It is he who is the next step in evolutionary progress. In this organism, power (the state) performs the function of the brain, while the lower classes of society provide the vital activity of the entire system.
Organic chemistry
In science, there is not only an organic theory of the origin of the state. This concept belongs to political science and sociology. However, a theory with a similar name exists in another scientific discipline. This is chemistry. In the same 19th century, the theory of the structure of organic substances was formulated within its framework. The pioneer laurels this time went to the Russian scientist Alexander Butlerov.
The prerequisites for the emergence of a theory that immortalized the name of a chemist took shape over many years. At first, the researchers noticed that groups of atoms can go from one molecule to another unchanged. They were called radicals. However, chemists could not give any explanation for this anomaly. In addition, there were still critics of the theory of the atomic structure of substances. These contradictions impeded the development of science. She needed a serious push to move forward.
Prerequisites for a New Theory
Gradually, more and more curious facts about carbon accumulated in organic chemistry. Also in the 19th century, isomers were discovered but not explained - substances that had an identical composition, but at the same time showed different properties. Friedrich Weller (a renowned chemist of his time) compared organic chemistry with a dense forest, thus honestly admitting that it remains one of the most difficult to understand scientific disciplines.
Some progress began in the 1850s. First, the British chemist Edward Frankland discovered the phenomenon of valency - the ability of atoms to create chemical bonds. Then, in 1858, an important discovery was simultaneously and independently made by Friedrich August Kekule and Archibald Cooper. They found that carbon atoms can join together and form different chains.
Butlerov's discoveries
In the same 1858, Alexander Butlerov was ahead of many of his colleagues. His theory of organic compounds has not yet been formulated, but he already spoke with confidence about the grouping of atoms in complex molecules. Moreover, the Russian scientist was able to determine the nature of this phenomenon. He believed that the grouping of atoms is due to chemical affinity.
Thus, Butlerov found himself outside the bounds of the theoretical system that other more eminent chemists built (first of all, Charles Gerard). For a long time he acted alone. And only after several important theoretical successes, Butlerov decided to share his thoughts with colleagues.
Few well-known researchers in Europe first made themselves known at a meeting held by the Paris Chemical Society. On it, Butlerov formulated many principles, which were then incorporated into the theory of organic substances. In particular, he suggested that, in addition to radicals, there are functional groups. So were soon called structural fragments of organic molecules that determined their properties.
Theory of the Russian Researcher
By the middle of the XIX century, chemical science incorporated many facts that did not add up to a logical concept. It was her who was proposed by Alexander Butlerov. In 1861, while at a conference in the German city of Speyer, he read a revolutionary report on the chemical structure of substances.
The essence of Butlerov’s speech was as follows. The atoms inside the molecules are connected to each other according to their own valency. The properties of substances are affected not only by their quantitative and qualitative composition. They are determined both by these laws and by the order of connection of atoms in molecules. These tiny particles affect each other and change the properties of the substance as a whole. After the speech of Alexander Butlerov, a theory of the structure of organic substances appeared in science. She successfully answered all those questions that have accumulated over several decades of disparate discoveries.
The Importance of Organic Theory
Butlerov’s chemical theory and Spencer’s political science theory have much in common. In both cases, we are talking about a single whole (matter and state), consisting of many small elements (atoms and people). This relationship determines the properties of the studied phenomena. With all this, both teachings appeared at about the same time.
The concept, according to which the properties of a substance depend on the properties of composite elementary particles, later formed the basis of the entire classical and generally accepted theory of chemical structure. However, Butlerov’s services did not end there. Among other things, his ideas formed the basis of the rules by which scientists later learned to determine the structure of substances.
The Russian chemist preferred to carry out artificial synthetic reactions and with their help to study in detail the quality of radicals. The researcher left behind a rich written heritage. He documented in detail each of his experiments. It was thanks to his habit that the theory of the structure of organic chemistry appeared. Its basis was Butlerov’s rich experimental experience.
The origin of substances and isomerism
Only with the passage of time did it become clear how important the organic theory formulated by Alexander Butlerov had. Using his teachings, he outlined further research paths for his successors and ideological followers. For example, a Russian chemist paid much attention to decomposition reactions. He believed that by experimenting with them one can make the most accurate conclusions about the structure of chemicals.
Using the provisions of his own organic theory, Butlerov studied in detail the phenomenon of isomerism, the principle of which was described above. Then it excited the minds of many progressive scientists. Carrying out experiment after experiment, Butlerov was able to obtain tertiary butyl alcohol, describe its properties and prove the existence of isomers of this complex substance. Research by an outstanding chemist was continued by his students: Vladimir Markovnikov and Alexander Popov.