BEING, DOING, BECOMING
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 276 ▶ |
| Object type | General information, Epistemology, ontology or semantics |
According to J.L. LEMOIGNE, “An object's definition is made by triangulation: it includes
- a functional definition (what the object does)
- an ontological definition ( what the object is)
- a genetic definition (what the object becomes)“ (1977, p.39)
LEMOIGNE adds that this “Trialectics of being, doing and becoming is probably the key of representation, if not even of knowledge” (Ibid).
This important insight reminds us that none of the three definitions corresponds to an absolute knowledge:
- What the system actually does may be quite different of what we believe it does, or of our specific viewpoint in relation to our research;
- We do not know if the “real object” corresponds perfectly to the model we did construct (see “Ontological skepticism”);
- It is not secure that our forecasts in connection with the future of the object are valid, nor even that it would be possible to make any valid forecast.
The trialectic concept of LEMOIGNE's is basic for the whole of his “Syst+me General” Theory (p.40).
W. PANKOW writes on the same topic: “Being is becoming. Self-transcendent systems are time generating systems. Being and time are complementary aspects of gestalt. Gestalt has no origin: it is its own origin” (1976, p.21).