Conceptual Differentiation of Heat: The Entropic Promise of a Post-Pyrocene World

Thermodynamics is thought to result from the conceptual differentiation (CD) of heat into energy, entropy, and heat. The form of CD that took place in the 19th century will be referred to as the CD of the “_energy-centric conception of entropy_” project. The conception is otherwise known as the concept of available energy, or free energy, or exergy. The defining goal of the project is the harvesting of free energy for the maintenance of all living organisms and all human institutions. This leads to a fundamental “free energy” conundrum of human existence: to thrive in style, we need abundant free energy; such pursuit of wellness for individuals increases the _speed_ of the whole (of which individuals and their environment are parts) falling into the abyss of chaos. We argue that the free energy conundrum results from _imperfection_ in the CD of the energy-centric project, imperfection due to the two laws failing to be demarcated as the law of energy and the law of entropy. This paper articulates a new thermodynamics (referred to as Unified Classical Thermodynamics [UCT]) under the masthead of “_entropy-centric conception of entropy_.” An argument is put forward that the proposed entropy-centric project offers solutions to the fundamental conundrum of human existence.