Process

A process is a concept i.e. a mental representation of something (an abstraction of the second level; the mental representation of an object like a piece of rock is of the first level). The concepts that we call processes are characterized by the following features:

1. A process is an action which we see as a sequence of sub-actions. The states resulting from sub-actions are referred to, as stages of the process. Thus we see a process as a sequence of its stages. Now the moment we mention a sequence, we refer to another concept or mental representation, i.e. successive states in time. And again we have another concept which is time, and so on for every single statement that we express through language....

2. As is true for most concepts, the stages of processes are abstractions limited in time and space, i.e. they refer to certain spatially delimited parts of the world at certain times.

   Very often processes have the following additional feature:

3. The process has a definite initial and final stage. Furthermore, there is the initial stage called the input, and a concept associated to the final stage called the output, of the process. For example, both stages may be some object or combination of objects, and some of these objects may constitute the input while others constitute the output. We then speak of the process as transforming the input into the output. But the same may apply to concepts, the process then transforms an input concept into an output concept.

   Also, there are processes which have a definite initial stage, but may or may not have a final stage, i.e. a process may be infinite. Processes often are contrasted with objects. The most important feature of objects is -- by definition -- their constancy with respect to certain cognitive actions. The concept of a process, on the contrary, represents a continuous change.

   The most usual way of speaking of objects and processes is a criss-cross between the two concepts: a process, the stages of which are objects not identical to each other. On a smaller time scale we observe constancy with respect to some cognitive actions, which gives us the reason to speek of it as an object. On a larger time scale, this is a process, and we say that the object is changing.

   One can see from this definition that the concept of a process is a very general. An object may be seen as a special kind of process where there is no change. Everything can be viewed as a process.

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   Mis à jour le 01/04/2016 pratclif.com