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

ROOT DEFINITION 1)2)

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"A concise, tightly constructed description of a human activity system which states what the system is" (R. RODRIGUEZ ULLOA, 1999)

"What is does is then elaborated in a conceptual model which is built on the basis of the definition. Every element in the definition must be reflected in the model derived from it. A well formulated root definition will make explicit each of the CATWOE elements. A completely general root definition embodying CATWOE might take the following form:

"A (…O…)-owned system which, under the following environmental constraints which it takes as given (…E…) transforms this input (…) into that output (…) by means of the following major activities, among others: (……), the transformation being carried out by these actors: (… A…) and directly affecting the following beneficiaries and/or victims (…C…). The world-image which makes this transformation meaningful contains at least the following elements among others: (…W…)".

"A root definition describes a notional system chosen for its relevance to what the investigator and/or the people in the problem situation perceive as matters of contention" (Ibid).

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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