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

WHOLE or SYSTEM or GESTALT? 1)

← Back

A. ANGYAL tried (in 1941!) to clarify in the following way the meaning of the word "whole": "The term "whole" is frequently used with a very confusing double meaning. Sometimes the concrete organized object, other times the organization of the object is called a whole. The term is used in this latter connotation, for instance, when one states that a circle may be small or large, drawn in red or green color, and still remain the same whole, the same Gestalt. I propose that the term "whole" be reserved to designate the concrete organized object itself. The way of arrangement of parts, should becalled system" (in F.E. EMERY, 1969, p.28).

After more than fifty years, the matter is not yet settled. Many authors seem to speak of "concrete systems", but J.L.LE MOIGNE considers that the system is a model.

In any case, it is of paramount importance never to confuse real objects (i.e., as we are able to perceive them), with conceptual abstractions.

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