SIG: Systems Philosophy
Chair:David Lune Email: dlune@outlook.com
The central focus of Systems Philosophy is the search for a systems worldview which mediates between living systems and systems theory. A successful system worldview will strike a reasoned and diplomatic tone, that will distinguish systems thinking for its value-added approach for decision and policy making.
Systems Philosophy endeavours to provide the metaphysical, epistemological, and logical foundations to support a systems worldview. In particular, we seek to articulate the spatial, temporal, and causal characteristics of a systems cosmology, and establish a meaningful assertion of what it means to be a living system.
Systems Philosophy finds itself well suited to do this due to its complementary role as the philosophical component of systemology. Systems philosophy considers the content of systems practice, science & engineering, aesthetics, axiology, and theory, and furthermore engages in that sitting outside of those subjects.
Systems Philosophy endeavours to provide the metaphysical, epistemological, and logical foundations to support a systems worldview. In particular, we seek to articulate the spatial, temporal, and causal characteristics of a systems cosmology, and establish a meaningful assertion of what it means to be a living system.
Systems Philosophy finds itself well suited to do this due to its complementary role as the philosophical component of systemology. Systems philosophy considers the content of systems practice, science & engineering, aesthetics, axiology, and theory, and furthermore engages in that sitting outside of those subjects.
This SIG provides a venue for developing and discussing ideas, strategies, frameworks, opportunities and challenges relevant todeveloping systems worldviews and establishing a systems perspective that is accretive to the social sciences.
Discussion in the SIG includes:
- Systems terminology: terms needed to describe and explain the nature, behavior and potentials of systems;
- Systems perspectives: sound and valid arguments in support of a metaphysics, epistemology, and logic capable to defending systems science and ethics;
- Systems worldviews: integrated philosophies (worldviews) that result from applying systems perspectives, including:
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- views on the kinds of systems that do or could exist in a concrete way,
- the kinds of knowledge we can have about systems,
- the systemic organization of the concrete world,
- the origin and evolution of kinds of systems,
- systemic perspectives on the nature of meanings, value, and purposes; and
- Applied systems philosophy: critical reflection using systemic approaches, the development of systemic transdisciplinarity, systems research addressing the ‘Big Questions’.
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