Systems Theory

Systems Theory (or Theorie) 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 with focus on Physics, Biology, and Engineering, and it later grew with connections into Philosophy, Sociology, and Economics, as developed by Fritjof Capra and others, as well as Cybernetics. Systems Theory focuses on Complexity and Interdependence, with a strong philosophical dimension, because applied to the Human Mind and Society, it results in unusual perspectives. In recent times Complex Systems, Autopoiesis, and Dynamism, have increasingly been used as synonyms for Systems Theory.

A 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, those 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. Systems Theory is sometimes expanded to become Systems Thinking, to provide techniques for studying Systems in an even more holistic approach, to supplement traditional Reductionist methods and to argue for a “Feminine Principle” of Systems, opposed to the dominant Masculine. In this way, Systems Theory is considered by some as a humanistic counterpart to the Natural Sciences.

References

• Ludwig von Bertalanffy (1968). General System Theory: Foundations, Development, Applications New York: George Braziller.
• Fritjof Capra, ''The Web of Life', Anchor Books, October, 1997, ISBN 0385476760, explores themes in Systems Theory involving Complexity, Chaos, Social Systems, and Ecosystems.
• Daniel Durand (1979) La systémique, Presses Universitaires de France.
• Gerald M. Weinberg (1975) An Introduction to General Systems Thinking (1975 ed., Wiley-Interscience) (2001 ed. Dorset House).