To read this content please select one of the options below:

The project of “general systemology” instigated by Ludwig von Bertalanffy: Genealogy, genesis, reception and advancement

David Pouvreau (Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science, Vienna, Austria)

Kybernetes

ISSN: 0368-492X

Article publication date: 24 June 2013

977

Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims to present the main perspectives and conclusions of a doctoral research in the history and philosophy of science conducted in France and Austria by the author on the project of “general systemology” (or “general system theory”) instigated by Ludwig von Bertalanffy.

Design/methodology/approach

A genealogical enquiry accounts for its scientific, philosophical and more generally cultural origins. Its genesis in Bertalanffy's works between 1926 and 1944 is explained. The process that led it to become a collective project is then discussed: the history of the Society for General Systems Research is considered, the ambivalence of its role with regard to general systemology being demonstrated. Finally, the unity of the diverse contributions to the latter's development is asserted in a framework put forward by the author in order to account for its structure and functions.

Findings

While stating a comprehensive view of its history, the paper characterizes general systemology as the project of a general science of systemic interpretation of the “real” which remains topical, although it was never fully actualized.

Originality/value

A new insight is thus provided on the scope and meaning of this hermeneutics: it meets the contemporary need for a better understanding of the foundations of systems research.

Keywords

Citation

Pouvreau, D. (2013), "The project of “general systemology” instigated by Ludwig von Bertalanffy: Genealogy, genesis, reception and advancement", Kybernetes, Vol. 42 No. 6, pp. 851-868. https://doi.org/10.1108/K-05-2013-0090

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2013, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Related articles