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

GOAL SEEKING 1)3)4)

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A characteristic of a system which directs itself toward the achievement of a goal.

This is a concept in need of a close scrutiny.

First of all, we should carefully distinguish what the system does from what we consider that it is doing.

The most general, and possibly the only really basic, "goal" of any system is its own perpetuation. We should here avoid the term "survival", because it would restrict the concept to the living systems. However, has any non-living system a "goal"? Does a galaxy have a goal, even if it seems to be self-perpetuating for eons? Does a crystal have a goal? Does a planet have a goal? Has GAIA a goal?

Really, proper goal seeking is probably restricted to living beings. But even then, in which sense could a bacteria or a virus have a goal? And when do goals appear: with cells?, with worms?, with vertebrates?, with mammals?, with apes?, with men?

And another tricky problem appears: do societies, species or ecosystems – which are not strongly integrated systems – have "goals"? Can they be "goal-seeking "?

As to our role as observers, we obviously attribute goals to many systems by analogy with our own goal seeking manner, and we frequently colour this concept with a shade of free will.

To become "goal seeking", even in the restricted sense of "survival seeking ", a system must be autonomous (i.e. be self-determinated in VENDRYES' sense) or autopoietic (i.e. able to maintain its identity by recursive organizational closure, in VARELA's sense).

To summarize, the semantic status of the concept is shaky.

For ACKOFF's views on the topic, see System (Goal seeking)

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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