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

EIGEN-VALUES 2)

← Back

The series of self-produced repeated and stable values that result of recursive operations in a organizationally closed system.

H.von FOERSTER, who introduced this partly German term, states: "… Eigen-values are discrete (even if the domain of the primary argument obs0 is continuous)…

"… Eigen-values represent equilibria, and depending upon the chosen domain of the primary argument, these equilibria may be equilibrial values ("fixed points"), functional equilibria, operational equilibria, structural equilibria, etc.

"… Eigen-values, because of their self-defining (or self-generative) nature imply topological "closure" ("circularity")" (1976, p.93).

Also in von FOERSTER's words: Eigen values are "equilibria that determine themselves through circular processes"(1981, p. 280). In a sense they are attractors.

As a result, any observer's view of reality is always self-constructed. In von FOERSTER's words: "Ontologically, Eigen-values and objects, and likewise, ontogenetically, stable behavior and the manifestations of a subject's "grasp" cannot be distinguished. In both cases "objects" appear to reside exclusively in the subject's own experience of his sensory-motor coordinations" (p.94).

Some measure of "objectivity" can be attained only through comparison by two or more observers of their respective sensory-motor coordinations, which may lead to a consensus. Such consensus is always liable to be revised, which gives a supplementary foundation to POPPER's falseability of theories and KUHN's paradigm shifts.

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]

We thank the following partners for making the open access of this volume possible:

© 2020 BCSSS Contact/Imprint