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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METASYSTEM PARADIGM: Epistemological status 3)

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J.van GIGCH clarifes as follows the status of the epistemological questions which the metasystem paradigm attempts to answer

"Epistemological questions for which the metasystem paradigm does not hold answers

1. The question of problem definition: How should the problem be defined: "In everything there is everything"

2. The problem of coherence or of holism: How are the boundaries of the irreductible whole defined?

3. The question of complexity and solvability: Reality is complex but complex models cannot be solved

4. The question of 'idealism' vs 'realism': The idealist propounds impractical solutions which consider the whole; the realist present nearby solutions which are practical but nearsighted.

"Epistemological questions for which the metasystem paradigm holds answers

1. Problem of optimization and suboptimization: Can we really optimize? What is centralization and decentralization?

2. Principle of invariance: Is there isomorphism between systems levels?

3. The ontological question: Do hierarchies really exist?

4. The guarantee of truth: How do we guarantee truth or the validity of our solution?

5. The question of observability and of control: Interplay between observer/designer, description and prescription. Role of purpose in teleogenic systems". (pers. commun.)

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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