General System Theory - Monoskop

By the same author:

Modern Theories of Development (in German, English, Spani~h)

Nikolaus von Kues Lebenswissenschaft und Bildung Theoretische Biologie Das Gef?ge des Lebens Vom Molek?l zur Organismenwelt Problems of Life

(in German, English, French, Spanish, Dutch, Japanese)

Auf den Pfaden des Lebens Biophysik des Fliessgleichgewichts Robots, Men and Minds

General System Theory

J

Foundations, Development, Applications

I

t

by Ludwig von Bertalanffy

University of Alberta Edmonton) Canada

GEORGE BRAZILLER New York

MANIBUS Nicolai de Cusa Cardinalis, Gottfriedi Guglielmi Leibnitii, ]oannis Wolfgangi de Goethe Aldique Huxleyi, neenon de Bertalanffy Pauli, S.J., antecessoris, cosmographi

Copyright ? 1968 by Ludwig von Bertalanffy All rights in this hook are reserved. For information address the publisher, George Braziller, lnc.

One Park Avenue New York, N.Y. 10016

Foreword

The present volume appears to demand some introductory notes clarifying its scope, content, and method of presentation.

There is a large number of texts, monographs, symposia, etc., devoted to "systems" and "systems theory". "Systems Science," or one of its many synonyms, is rapidly becoming part of the established university curriculum. This is predominantly a development in engineering science in the broad sense, necessitated by the complexity of "systems" in modern technology, man-machine relations, programming and similar considerations which were not felt in yesteryear's technology but which have become imperative in the complex technological and social structures of the modern world. Systems theory, in this sense, is preeminently a mathematica! field, offering partly novel and highly sophisticated techniques, closely linked with computer science, and essentially determined by the requirement to cope with a new sort of problem that has been appearing.

What may he obscured in these developments-important as they are-is the fact that systems theory is a broad view which far transcends technological problems and demands, a reorientation that has become necessary in science in general and in the gamut of disciplines from physics and biology to the behavioral and social sciences and to philosophy. It is operative, with varying degrees of success and exacti~ude, in various realms, and heraids a new world view of considerable impact. The student in "systems science" receives a technica! training which makes systems theory-originally intended to overcome current overspecialization-into another of the hundreds of academie specialties. Moreover, systems science, centered in computer technology, cybernetics, automation and systems engineering, appears to

vii

make the systems idea another-and indeed the ultimatetechnique to shape man and society ever more into the "megamachine" which Mumford (1967) has so impressively described in its advance through history.

The present hook hopes to make a contribution in both respects implied in the above: offering to the student of systems science a broadened perspective, and to the general reader a panoramic view of a development which is indubitably characteristic of ana important in the present world. While fully realizing his limitations and shortcomings, the author feels entitled to do so because he was among the first to introduce general system theory, which is now becoming an important field of research and application.

As Sirnon (1965) correctly remarked, an introduetion into a rapidly developing field largely consists in its conceptual history. It may not he inappropriate, therefore, that the present work consists of studies written over a period of some thirty years. The hook thus presents systems theory not as a rigid doctrine (which at present it is not) but rather in its becoming and in the development of its ideas which, hopefully, can serve as a basis for further study and investigation.

In order to serve the purpose, these studies were arranged in logica! rather than chronological order and were carefully edited. Editing was limited, however, to elimination of repetitions, minor stylistic improvements and some suitable rearrangements. Intentionally, no changes in content were made from hindsight gained at a later time. Repetitions could not he completely avoided because similar ideas sometimes appeared in different contexts; but it is hoped they were kept at a tolerabie level. They may even he not undesirable to the student seeking the general idea or its application in a specific field.

The original sourees are indicated in the list of Acknowledgments. For evaluation of the material presented and reasous of priority which will become apparent, some major data may he summarized as follows. Chapter 5 (1940) introduced the "theory of the organism as open system." Together with Burton's (1939) work, this was the original statement of the concept which gained increasing importance and application. This publication remained almost unknown among British and American scientists and is therefore reproduced in its entirety, although much can he added, as is partly reviewed in Chapters 7 (1964) and 6 (1967). Similarly, the first announcement of general system theory

viii

(1945) is reproduced as Chapter 3, abridged and somewhat rearranged, but otherwise true to the original. The Appendix (review of an address presented in 1947) is reproduced as an early statement long before systems theory and cognate terms and fields appeared academically or in technol@gy. A review in nontechnical Ianguage (1956) serves as Chapter 2; Chapters I and 4 try to bring the story up to date.

The author wishes to extend his thanks to many persons and agencies that facilitated the work here presented. Thanks are due to Dr. George Brantl, editor at George Braziller, Inc., for having suggested the publication and for his valuable editorial assistance in presenting the hook to its advantage. The permissions of editors and publishers where the essays were first published, as indicated in the souree list, are gratefully acknowledged. So is the assistance of various agencies, the N ational Research Council and N ational Cancer Institute of Canada, the Canada Council, the University of Alberta General Research Committee and others, which spousored part of the work here reported by research grants and other support. The author's secretary, Mrs. Elizabeth Grundau, took care of the manuscript in its various phases, assisted in bibliographic and library work, and provided translations of the chapters originally published in German, thus far exceeding secretarial routine. Last but not least, my wife, Maria von Bertalanffy, has to he thanked for her untiring help and criticism when these essays were written. Without the encouragement of colleagues, too numerous to mention, the writer, in the face of obstructions and obstacles, would hardly have persevered in the task of introducing and developing general system theory.

L.v.B.

University of Alberta Edmonton (Canada) March 1968

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Acknowledgments

Most of the chapters in this volume have previously appeared, sometimes in modified form. The publication history is given here for each chapter. The author wishes to thank the original publishers of the articles for permission to include them in this volume:

Chapter 1: Written for this volume (1967) .

Chapter 2: "General System Theory," in Main Currents in Modern Thought, Volume 11, #4, March 1955, pp. 75-83. Reprinted in General Systems, 1 (1956) 1-10; R. W. Taylor (ed.), Life, Language, Law: Essays in Honor of A. F. Bentley, Yellow Springs (Ohio), Antioch Press, 1957, pp. 58-78;

J. D. Singer (ed.), Human Behavior and International

Polities, Chicago, Rand McNally & Co., 1965, pp. 20-31;

N. J. Demerath lil and R. A. Peterson (eds.), System,

Change, and Conflict, Glencoe (Ill.), Free Press, 1967. Additions were taken from "Allgemeine Systemtheorie. Wege zu einer neuen Mathesis universalis," Deutsche Universit?tszeitung, 5 j6 (1957) 8-12. Also in Italian, "La Teoria generale dei Sistemi," La Voce dell' America, 18-G and 2-H (1956-57), and French, "Histoire et m?thodes de la th?orie g?n?rale des syst?mes," Atomes, 21 (1966) 100-104.

Chapter 3: Condensed from "Zu einer allgemeinen Systemlehre," Deutsche Zeitschrift f?r Philosophie, 18, No. 3/4 (1945) ; "An Outline of General System Theory," British ]ournal of the Philosophy of Science, 1 (1950) 139-164; "Zu einer allgemeinen Systemlehre," Biologia Generalis, 19 (1949) 114-129. x i

Chapter 4: "Genera! System Theory. A Critica! Review." General Systems, 7 (1962), 1-20. Reprinted in W. Buckley (ed.), Modern Systems Research for the Behaviaral Scientist, Chicago, Aldine Publishing Co., 1968, pp. 11-30.

Chapter 5: "Der Organismus als physikalisches System betrachtet," Die Naturwissenschaften, 28 (1940) 521-531.

Chapter 6: "Das Modell des offerren Systems," Nova Acta Leopoldina, (1969).

Chapter 7: "Basic Concepts in Quantitative Biology of Metabolism," Helgol?nder Wissenschaftliche Meeresuntersuchungen, 9 (First International Symposium on Quantitative Biology of Metabolism) (1964) 5-37.

Chapter 8: Substance of lectures presented at the University of Western Ontario (London), University of California Medica! School (San Francisco), University of Alberta (Edmonton, Calgary), etc., 1961-64.

Chapter 9: "General System Theory and Psychiatry," from Chapter 43 of The American Handhook of Psychiatry, Vol. 3, edited by Silvano Arieti, ? 1966 by Basic Books, Inc., Publishers, New York.

Chapter 10: "An Essay on the Relativity of Categories," Philosophy of Science, 22 (1955) 243-263. Reprinted in General Systems, 7 (1962) 71-83.

Appendix "Vom Sinn und der Einheit der Naturwissenschaften. Aus einem Vortrag von Prof. Dr. Ludwig von Bertalanffy," Der Student (Wien), 2, No. 7 j8 (1947) 10--11.

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Contents

Foreword ................................................................................ . vii

Acknowledgments ................................................................ . xi

I Introduetion ...... ............................................................ . 3 Systems Everywhere ........................................................ 3 On the Ristory of Systems Theory ........................... . 10

Trends in Systems Theory ........................................... . 17

2 The Meaning of General System Theory ....................... 30

The Quest for a General System Theory ............... . 30

Aims of General System Theory ............................... . 36

Closed and Open Systems: Limitations of

Conventional Physics ... ...............

............. . 39

Information and Entropy

........................... . 41

Causality and Teleology

.............................. . 44

What Is Organization? .............................................. . 46

General System Theory and the U nity of Science ... . 48

General System Theory in Education: The

Production of Scientific Generalists ........ .

49

Science and Society ..............................................

51

The Ultimate Precept: Man as the Individual ... 52

3 Some System Concepts in Elementary Mathematica!

Consideration .............................................................. . 54

The System Concept .... ............... ......................... . 54

Growth ...............

......................................... . 60

Competition .................................................................. . 63

Wholeness, Sum, Mechanization, Centralization

66

Finality ........................................................................ . 75

Types of Finality

77

Isomorphism in Science

80

The Unity of Science ......................................... . 86

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4 Advances in General System Theory .... ... ..... ..

87

Approaches and Aims in Systems Science ......

87

Methods in General Systems Research ..... .............. 94

Advances of General System Theory .............

99

5 The Organism Considered as Physical System .............. 120

The Organism as Open System

12Q I

General Characteristics of Open

Chemica! Systems .............................................. . 124

Equifinality ......................

............................... 131

Biologica! Applications ............................................... 134

6 The Model of Open System ............................................ . 139

The Living Machine and lts Limitations ............... . 139

Some Characteristics of Open Systems

141

Open Systems in Biology .....

145

Open Systems and Cybernetics .. .

149

Unsolved Problems ...

.............. .

151

Condusion .................................... .

153

7 Some Aspects of System Theory in Biology ................... 155

Open Systems and Steady States ...

...... 156

Feedback and Romeostasis .........

....................... 160

Allometry and the Surface Rule .... ..................... 163

Theory of Animal Growth ... ... . .. ............................ . 171

Summary ... ................... ............. .....................

... 184

8 The System Concept in the Sciences of Man .. .

186

The Organismic Revolution .................................... . 186

The Image of Man in Contemporary Thought .... . 188

System-Theoretica! Re-orientation

............. . 192

Systems in the Social Sciences ..................................... . 194

A System-Theoretica! Concept of Ristory ......... . 197

The Future in System-Theoretica! Aspect ............ . 203

9 General System Theory in Psychology and Psychiatry ... . 205

The Quandary of Modern Psychology .................... . 205

System Concepts in Psychopathology ..................... . 208

Condusion ......... .

220

10 The Relativity of Categories .......................................... . 222

The Whorfian R ypothesis ........................................... . 222

The Biologica! Relativity of Categories

227

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The Cultural Re1ativity of Categories .... ........... 232 The Perspectivistic View ......... ............................. 239 Notes ............................................................................... 248 Appendix: The Meaning and Unity of Science .............. 251 References .............................................................................. 254 Suggestions for Further Reading ........................................ 275 Index ........................................................................................ 279

XV

1 Introduetion

Systems Everywhere

i

If someone were to analyze current notions and fashionable catchwords, he would find "systems" high on the list. The concept has pervaded all fields of science and penetrated into popular thinking, jargon and mass media. Systems thinking plays a dominant role in a wide range of fields from industrial enterprise and armaments to esoterie topics of pure science. Innumerable publications, conferences, symposia and courses are devoted to it. Professions and jobs have appeared in recent years which, unknown a short while ago, go under narnes such as systems design, systems analysis, systems engineering and others. They are the very nucleus of a new technology and technocracy; their practitioners are the "new utopians" of our time (Boguslaw, 1965) who -in contrast to the classic breed whose ideas remained between the covers of hooks-are at work creating a New World, brave or otherwise.

The roots of this development are complex. One aspect is the development from power engineering-that is, release of large amounts of energy as in steam or electric machines-to control engineering, which directs processes by low-power devices and has led to computers and automation. Self-controlling machines have appeared, from the humbie dornestic thermostat to the selfsteering missiles of World War II to the immensely improved missiles of today. Technology has been led to think not in terms

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