BCSSS

International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics

2nd Edition, as published by Charles François 2004 Presented by the Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science Vienna for public access.

About

The International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics was first edited and published by the system scientist Charles François in 1997. The online version that is provided here was based on the 2nd edition in 2004. It was uploaded and gifted to the center by ASC president Michael Lissack in 2019; the BCSSS purchased the rights for the re-publication of this volume in 200?. In 2018, the original editor expressed his wish to pass on the stewardship over the maintenance and further development of the encyclopedia to the Bertalanffy Center. In the future, the BCSSS seeks to further develop the encyclopedia by open collaboration within the systems sciences. Until the center has found and been able to implement an adequate technical solution for this, the static website is made accessible for the benefit of public scholarship and education.

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DEPENDENCE 2)

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"The relation in which the existence of one part is conditioned by some other part" (J. FEIBLEMAN & J. FRIEND, 1969, p.34).

"Independence is the absence of this condition".

Dependence implies a hierarchic relation. FEIBLEMAN and FRIEND give the following example: "….the limb of an animal is dependent upon the circulatory system, but not the circulatory system upon the limb" (Ibid).

They also state that grains of sand (randomly moved by the wind, let us say) are independent of each other. It should be observed however, that, in composite systems, like a sand dune, they are at least submitted to a kind of global statistical order. As stated by M. BUNGE: "Dependence may be probabilistic, whereas causation is deterministic" (1974, p.235).

F. VESTER emphasizes inner reciprocal dependence (i.e. symbiosis) in biological and social systems. He observes that short internal distances, reduction of exchanges with the environment through increased internal exchanges and lesser use of energy diminish dependence from the environment. (1983, p.82)

This confirms P. VENDRYES' concept of autonomy.

Categories

  • 1) General information
  • 2) Methodology or model
  • 3) Epistemology, ontology and semantics
  • 4) Human sciences
  • 5) Discipline oriented

Publisher

Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science(2020).

To cite this page, please use the following information:

Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science (2020). Title of the entry. In Charles François (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics (2). Retrieved from www.systemspedia.org/[full/url]

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