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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SYSTEMS PHILOSOPHY 1)3)

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W. ULRICH (1983, p.321-3) has imagined a hypothetical debate between H.A. SIMON and C.W. CHURCHMAN, two outstanding systemists whose views are at odds on a number of points. ULRICH extracted the elements of this fictitious debate from SIMON's "Science of the Artificial" and from CHURCHMAN's "The Artificiality of Science ". Hereafter, a short summary of this debate (on which thesis ULRICH obtained both supposed contenders' agreement):

For more precise information see reference.

In a more taxonomic way, R. RODRIGUEZ DELGADO describes as follows the different possible meanings of so-called systems philosophy:

"a) A global attempt to understand the Universe and the existence of Man

"b) A partial generalization of knowledge, like Philosophy of History, Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Art, etc.

c) An Ontology or Theory of the abstract Being

d) An Epistemology or Theory of Science

e) An instrument for reaching a synthesis of scientific knowledge

f) A way of orienting human action in an intelligent way

g) An instrument for the positive transformation of Man and Society" (1993a, p 20).

This author sees in systems philosophy a trend toward the integration of different or even opposed philosophical systems, as elaborated for example by Nicholas of CUSA, THEILHARD de CHARDIN, J. ORTEGA Y GASSET, Karl MARX and E. LASZLO.

Conversely, R. RODRIGUEZ ULLOA speaks of a "Weltanschauung", wherein a philosophy is merely implicit.

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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