GENERAL SYSTEMS THEORY: a Set of precepts
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 1399 ▶ |
| Object type | General information, Epistemology, ontology or semantics |
J.W. SUTHERLAND enounced as an “epistemological platform”, the following integrated set of precepts for G.S.T.:
- A belief in the scientific utility of (and the limited existence of) phenomenal isomorphisms.
- A belief in the perequisital nature of proper theory, coupled with the conviction that empirical validation should be the arbiter of scientific truth.
- A postulation of the critical role to be played by analogic models in complex phenomenal domains.
- A preference for 'organic' referents within the social and behavioral sciences (as opposed to the mechanical referents of classical physics, etc.).
- A preference for a holistic analytical modality (predicated on hypothetico-deductive operations) as opposed to the reductionist-inductivist modality.
- A demand that instances of macrodeterminacy among complex 'organic' phenomena be fully exploited.
- The postulation that ideal-type and taxonomic constructs are the most efficient vehicles for phenomenal analysis in the social and behavioral sciences“(1973, p.19).
Of course the modes of “empirical validation” depend at least in part on the way of setting the “question marks”. As to the preference for “organic referents in social and behavioral sciences”, it should not be exclusive: dissipative structuration and networks, for example may provide useful models. As to “macrodeterminacy”, it became clear, more recently, that complex systems combine it with local or microderteminacy in such a curious way as to generate a global semideterminacy (chaos). And “ideal-types” and “taxonomic constructs” should be used as carefully, as any abstract construct.