Systems theory

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Systems theory or general systems theory or systemics is an interdisciplinary field which studies systems as a whole. Systems theory was founded by Ludwig von Bertalanffy, William Ross Ashby and others between the 1940s and the 1970s on principles from physics, biology and engineering and later grew into numerous fields including philosophy, sociology, organizational theory, management, psychotherapy (within family systems therapy) and economics among others. Cybernetics is a related field, sometimes considered as a part of systems theory.

Systems theory focuses on complexity and interdependence. It has a strong philosophical dimension, because applied to the human mind and society, it results in unusual perspectives. In recent times complex systems has increasingly been used as a synonym. Systems theory has also been developed within sociology. The most notable scientist in this area is Niklas Luhmann (see Luhmann 1994).

Part of systems theory, system dynamics is a method for understanding the dynamic behavior of complex systems. The basis of the method is the recognition that the structure of any system -- the many circular, interlocking, sometimes time-delayed relationships among its components -- is often just as important in determining its behavior as the individual components themselves. Examples are chaos theory and social dynamics.

In recent years, the field of systems thinking has been developed to provide techniques for studying systems in holistic ways to supplement more traditional reductionistic methods. In this more recent tradition, systems theory is considered by some as a humanistic counterpart to the natural sciences.

References

• Daniel Durand (1979) La systémique, Presses Universitaires de France
• Ludwig von Bertalanffy (1968). General System Theory: Foundations, Development, Applications New York: George Braziller
• Gerald M. Weinberg (1975) An Introduction to General Systems Thinking (1975 ed., Wiley-Interscience) (2001 ed. Dorset House).
• Niklas Luhmann Soziale Systeme. Grundriss einer allgemeinen Theorie, Frankfurt, Suhrkamp, 1994
• Herman Kahn, Techniques of System Analysis

See also

• William Ross Ashby
• autopoiesis
• cybernetics
• Buckminster Fuller
• system
• systems theory in archaeology
• systems thinking
• systemantics
• Important publications in systems theory
• Tectology

External links

• Principia Cybernetica Web
• International Society for the System Sciences
• Autopoiesis at the ACM website
• Systems theory
• Le Village Systémique

Un-annotated external links

• http://mvhs1.mbhs.edu/mvhsproj/project2.html
• http://www.geom.umn.edu/education/math5337/ds/
• http://www.albany.edu/cpr/sds/
• http://www.uni-klu.ac.at/users/gossimit/links/bookmksd.htm
• http://www.wkap.nl/journalhome.htm/0924-6703
• http://www.wkap.nl/jrnltoc.htm/0924-6703

es:Teoría General de Sistemasfr:analyse systémique zh:系统科学 de:Systemtheorie