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

GENERAL SYSTEMS THEORY (Innovations introduced by the) 1)

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According to J.van GIGCH: "General Systems Theory meets the objections raised against the analytic-mechanistic approaches and accomplishes the following:

"1. It takes a holistic approach to systems by preserving their identity and the properties of irreducible units.

"2. It raises the generality of particular laws by finding similarities of structure (isomorphisms) across systems, regardless of disciplines and the particular science in which they are found.

"3. It encourages the use of mathematical models, which offer a language devoid of content but which can, by their generality, suggest analogies or lack of analogies among systems", The limits of this approach is the lack of faithfulness of the mathematical models to the realities of the systems.

"4. It promotes the unity of science by providing a "framework of coherence for the organization of knowledge" (RAPOPORT), It can act as a "system of systems" to point to gaps in special fields and to similarities across disciplines (BOULDING)" (1978, p.48-9).

van GIGCH developments on these points are of great interest.(1978, p.55-75).

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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