Instruments of Unity: The Many Ways of Being One

那么，很多东西是如何结合成一个统一的整体的呢？什么是完整？一个团体如何团结？我们如何将世界划分成最自然的单元？我们在任何地方都能感受到统一性：从蚁群到细胞自动机，从有机体到组织。然而，我们对它们统一的一般约束条件知之甚少。团结项目的工具以一种提供具体适用答案的方式解决了这个抽象的问题。核心假设：统一是一个复杂的多元现象，需要多方面的理论研究。我们确定统一关系在各种形式的设置，使用工具从部分/整体理论，理论的位置，定性维度，模态逻辑，图论，加权网络，拓扑结构，数学形态学，等等。总而言之：有很多方法可以成为一个统一体。该项目的目标包括：开创统一体的新颖形式范式;开发一个测量理论的“自然指南”;将框架应用于形而上学的问题，包括社会和形式本体论;甚至解决“元”问题，即不同类型的统一体是否存在统一体。沿着的方式，我们将恢复一个更全面的'雕刻'为基础的形而上学对占主导地位的还原论'建设'为基础的范式。该项目位于圣安德鲁斯大学Arché中心，采用专家主导的合作研究的成熟方法，并由来自欧洲和美国的研究人员委员会提供建议，在五年内分三个阶段进行。该团队（由PI，三名博士后和一名全额资助的博士生组成）将提供：顶级期刊上的二十多篇文章，研究专著，开放获取的博士论文，小型研讨会，大型会议，注释的开源书目，可下载的参考数据库和可共享的信息图表，以促进非专家的知识交流。

How do many things come together into single unified entity? What is it to be whole? How is a group united? How do we carve the world into its most natural units? We perceive unities everywhere: from ant colonies to the cellular automata, from organisms to organisations. Yet we have little understanding about the general constraints by which they unified. The Instruments of Unity Project tackles this abstract question in a way that provides concrete applicable answers. The core hypothesis: unity is a complex pluralistic phenomenon, requiring a multifaceted theoretical approach. We identify unity relations across a variety of formal settings, using tools from part/whole theory, theories of location, qualitative dimensions, modal logics, graph theory, weighted networks, topology, mathematical morphology, and more. In sum: there are many ways to be one.The project goals include: pioneering novel formal paradigms for unity; developing a measurement-theoretic 'Guide for Naturalness'; applying the framework to problems in metaphysics, including social and formal ontologies; and even addressing the 'meta'-question of whether there's any unity to the different types of unity. Along the way, we will rehabilitate a more holistic 'carving'-based metaphysics over against the dominant reductionistic 'building'-based paradigm. Based in the Arché Centre at the University of St Andrews, using the proven method of expert-led collaborative research, and advised by a Board of researchers from Europe and the US, the project progresses over three phases in five years. The team (composed of the PI, three postdocs, and a fully-funded PhD student) will deliver: over twenty articles in top journals, a research monograph, an open-access PhD thesis, a small workshop, a major conference, an annotated open-source bibliography, a downloadable reference database, and shareable infographics to facilitate accessible knowledge exchange to non-experts.