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.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

FRANKFURT SCHOOL 1)

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A group of German philosophers and sociologists who took up "Marx's highly political exemplar of critical theory" and reformulated it "into a research program at the Frankfurt Institute for Social Research which began its work in the 1920's. The three main contributors to the early work of the "Frankfurt school" were HORKHEIMER, ADORNO and MARCUSE"(M. JACKSON, 2000, p. 30-31)

I. CRAIB, as quoted by Jackson states: "… the Frankfurt theorists are concerned with the way the system dominates: with the ways in which it forces, manipulates, blinds or fools people into ensuring its reproduction and continuation"(Ibid)

After the nazi period and WWII, the Frankfurt School resumed its activities, and its work was continued by the German philosopher Jürgen HABERMAS. It started to gather a growing influence, particularly in France with P. BOURDIEU (1989, 2000, 2001 ) M. FOUCAULT, J.F. LYOTARO, F. DERRIDA, and others.

M. Jackson offers a quite interesting panorama about the influence of the Frankfurt School in contemporary social theory, even if its work cannot be plainly identified as systemic (2000, p. 30-42)

He observes anyhow that the latest phase to date of german social thought "is found in LUHMANN's highly technocratic, all-embracing and despairing version of systems theory. In this, instrumental reason is completely triumphant as everything is subject to the rational requirements of the societal system".

And "Humanity is dragged in the wake of the system "(Ibid, p. 36). A comparison with insect societies seems rather ominous.

→ Sociality; Stigmergy; Swarm intelligence

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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