Systems Theory [antikvár]

PREFACELiterature on the systems theory has become so extensive and varied that nowadays virtually every work in this field requires a special preamble presenting it to the reader. In the absence of a unified and generally accepted systems theory in a more or less strict sense of the word every author has to formulate his objectives and standpoint before proceeding to the discussion of the actual problems.The title of the book gives a certain idea of the authors' intention. Indeed, we saw our problem as that of description of what we believe to be the basic philosophical and methodological problems posed by the rapid development of systems research in various fields of modern human knowledge. However, the approach itself requires some elucidation. In trying to interpret the new factors introduced by systems studies into the methods and forms of scientific knowledge, we were compelled to take a standpoint that is essentially methodological and there-