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

SOLIPSISM 3)

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The philosophical theory according to which the only "reality" is what is perceived by an observer.

A resurgence of bishop BERKELEY's views, solipsism is a frequent risk attached to some systemic interpretations of reality.

One may read for example that "… the Quantum version of the reality principle… asserts that only observed events are real" (R. FISCHER, 1992, p.216)

It should probably be better to write "real", or "realized" with quote marks, in order to convey the understanding that this does not negates the existence of something "out there".

The same problem may arise out of the notion of organizational closure, if it should be believed that the observer system becomes "closed" in the meaning that all representations become endogenously generated with out any further reference to the "outside".

A recent comment by M. MARUYAMA rises the disquieting possibility that our mass electronic image culture could lead to quite generalized collective solipsistic attitudes: "This state of mind can be easily produced in an environment where everything is artificial, everything is like a theatre stage, every wish can be fulfilled by a push-button, and there is nothing beyond the theatre stage and beyond your control" (1994, p.100).

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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