ORGANISMIC SET
Charles François (2004). ORGANISMIC SET, International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics, 2(2): 2403.
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 2403 ▶ |
| Object type | Human sciences, Methodology or model |
- “A mathematical entity that has properties common to both biological and social organisms” (N. RASHEVSKY, 1967, p.21).
RASHEVSKY, who introduced the concept, gives the following examples: “A social organism is a set of individuals who are the elements of the set. A multicellular biological organism is a set of cells; and… a unicellular organism may be considered as a set of genes….
- “Moreover, in all organismic sets, that is, in both biological and social organisms, the elements of the set replicate or multiply…
And: “An organismic set of order n is a set whose elements are organismic sets of order n — 1”.
RASHEVSKY finally claims that “The theory of organismic sets forms a sort of conceptual superstructure over biology and sociology” (p.21, 22, 27).