METASYSTEM
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 2111 ▶ |
| Object type | General information, Methodology or model |
- “A system over and above a system of lower logical order” (J.van GIGCH, 1986a, p.3) (After St .BEER).
J.van GIGCH comments: “…and therefore capable of deciding propositions, discussing criteria, or exercising regulations for systems that are themselves logically incapable of such decisions and discussions, or of self regulation (because the metalogic is inaccesible to the system's logic, or the metalanguage is capable of statements inexpressible in the system's language)” (Ibid).
A metasystem is a system of second order, i.e. describing “the change from one system to another in the delimited class… by a replacement procedure that is invariant with respect to the support employed” (1991, p.62). Such a procedure can be applied recursively and produce metasystems of second order, and so on.
M. BUNGE enounces the following axioms: “Every conceptual and every symbolic system of human knowledge, is or can be embedded in a wider system of the same kind;
- “Every concrete system, save for the universe as a whole, can be included in a larger environment with which it exchanges matter or energy” (1993, p.215).
Let us observe anyhow that the “universe” is in fact the abstract — and hypothetical — keystone for the whole logical cathedral. Generally, man is a constructor of metasystems, many times unwittingly, as the motives to construct controls, regulators or rules are not included in the same.