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

SYSTEMS THEORY ("Hard" or "Soft") 1)3)

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"Hard" Systems Theory

J.van GIGCH describes the nature of So called "Hard" Systems Theory, as "the continuation of the influence of sciences such as physics and mathematics".

"Hard" Systems Theory and the sciences from which it derives demand rigor and strict quantification. They rely on the deductive paradigm and on exact rules of procedure and proof… Hard Systems Theory usually provides good descriptive models of the universe but poor normative ones" (1978, p.73).

"Soft" Systems Theory

According to van GIGCH, "Soft" Systems Theory "views a system as a portion of the world that is perceived as a unit and that is able to maintain its identity in spite of changes going on in it" (from A. RAPOPORT, in "G.S. Yearbook, VoI15, 1970, p.15-25).

"Soft systems… may adopt several states due to environmental conditions yet preserve their original identities in spite of these influences. The solar system, a fountain, a family, a beehive, a city, a nation, and a business firm are systems that undergo continuous changes in their component elements and probably in their outward perceived shape. Systems defined as soft systems have structure, react to the environment by changing their short-term functions, undergo slow long-term changes, but maintain identity and evolve" (p.74).

"Soft" Systems Theory faced a strong resistance from many "Hard" Systems scientists, disorientated by what seems to them a lack of methodological rigor.

The well-known following quip by H.von FOERSTER still remains significant: "Hard" sciences are hard because they study soft problems, and "Soft" sciences ar soft because they study hard problems".

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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