ENTITATION
Charles François (2004). ENTITATION, International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics, 2(1): 1102.
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 1102 ▶ |
| Object type | General information |
- “The recognition or discovery of an entity that can be studied as a system” (after R.W. GERARD, 1964, p.120).
For GERARD, a system is “an element sufficiently whole and independent and internally organized to deserve separate study”. Moreover he writes: “This qualitative recognition of the important systems… is far more important than their measurement. Entitation must precede quantitation; only when the right things have been found to measure are measurements worthwhile” (Ibid).
For R. THOM any entity is recognized through its form. He adds however that “… for living beings, form is not limited to external form… it is also the form of all the internal organs… an internal form that somehow prolongs the external one”. He observes that internal form “in embryology, is constructed continuously from the external form” (1991, p.115).