FITNESS in REPRESENTATION
Charles François (2004). FITNESS in REPRESENTATION, International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics, 2(1): 1283.
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 1283 ▶ |
| Object type | General information, Epistemology, ontology or semantics |
According to von GLASERSFELD: “The substitution of the concept of fit (and its dynamic corollary, viability) for the traditional concept of truth as a matching, isomorphic, or iconic representation of reality, is the central feature of the theory of knowledge I have called Radical Constructivism” (1988, p.77-8).
The quest for fitness is the activity of observers, who postulate the existence of reality but also recognize that is cannot be fully transparent to them.
Of course, fitness in representation thus becomes unavoidedly empirical, pragmatic, relativistic and contingent.
A similar concept was developed by the Swiss epistemologist F. GONSETH (“Idon+it+”) (1945).