Editing Systems theory (section)

==General systems research and systems inquiry==
Many early systems theorists aimed at finding a general systems theory that could explain all systems in all fields of science. [[Ludwig von Bertalanffy]] began developing his 'general systems theory' via lectures in 1937 and then via publications from 1946.<ref name=":2" /> The concept received extensive focus in his 1968 book, ''General System Theory: Foundations, Development, Applications''.<ref name="GST" />

There are many definitions of a general system, some properties that definitions include are: an overall [[Teleology|goal of the system]], [[Mereology|parts of the system and relationships between these parts]], and [[emergent properties]] of the interaction between the parts of the system that are not performed by any part on its own.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Skyttner |first=Lars |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/181372125 |title=General systems theory : problems, perspectives, practice |date=2005 |publisher=World Scientific |isbn=978-981-277-475-0 |edition=2nd |location=Hackensack, NJ |oclc=181372125 |access-date=2022-04-09 |archive-date=2024-04-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240421021955/https://search.worldcat.org/title/181372125 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Rp|page=58}} [[Derek Hitchins]] defines a system in terms of [[Entropy (information theory)|entropy]] as a collection of parts and relationships between the parts where the parts of their interrelationships decrease entropy.<ref name=":6" />{{Rp|page=58}}

Bertalanffy aimed to bring together under one heading the organismic science that he had observed in his work as a biologist. He wanted to use the word ''system'' for those principles that are common to systems in general. In ''General System Theory'' (1968), he wrote:<ref name="GST" />{{RP|32}}

{{blockquote|[T]here exist models, principles, and laws that apply to generalized systems or their subclasses, irrespective of their particular kind, the nature of their component elements, and the relationships or "forces" between them. It seems legitimate to ask for a theory, not of systems of a more or less special kind, but of universal principles applying to systems in general.|}}

In the preface to von Bertalanffy's ''Perspectives on General System Theory'', [[Ervin László]] stated:<ref name=":1">[[Ervin László|László, Ervin]]. 1974. "Preface" in ''Perspectives on General System Theory'', by L. von Bertalanffy, edited by Edgar Taschdjian. New York: George Braziller.</ref>

{{blockquote|Thus when von Bertalanffy spoke of Allgemeine Systemtheorie it was consistent with his view that he was proposing a new perspective, a new way of doing science. It was not directly consistent with an interpretation often put on "general system theory", to wit, that it is a (scientific) "theory of general systems." To criticize it as such is to shoot at straw men. Von Bertalanffy opened up something much broader and of much greater significance than a single theory (which, as we now know, can always be falsified and has usually an ephemeral existence): he created a new paradigm for the development of theories.}}

Bertalanffy outlines systems inquiry into three major domains: [[philosophy]], [[science]], and [[technology]]. In his work with the Primer Group, [[Béla H. Bánáthy]] generalized the domains into four integratable domains of systemic inquiry:

# philosophy: the [[ontology]], [[epistemology]], and [[axiology]] of systems
# theory: a set of interrelated concepts and principles applying to all systems
# methodology: the set of models, strategies, methods and tools that instrumentalize systems theory and philosophy
# application: the application and interaction of the domains

These operate in a recursive relationship, he explained; integrating 'philosophy' and 'theory' as knowledge, and 'method' and 'application' as action; systems inquiry is thus knowledgeable action.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://projects.isss.org/doku.php|title=start [ProjectsISSS]|website=projects.isss.org|access-date=2021-04-07|archive-date=2021-04-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413003925/http://projects.isss.org/doku.php|url-status=live}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=May 2022}}

===Properties of general systems===
General systems may be split into a [[hierarchy]] of systems, where there is less interactions between the different systems than there is the components in the system. The alternative is [[heterarchy]] where all components within the system interact with one another.<ref name=":6" />{{Rp|page=65}} Sometimes an entire system will be represented inside another system as a part, sometimes referred to as a holon.<ref name=":6" /> These hierarchies of system are studied in [[hierarchy theory]].<ref name=":7" /> The amount of interaction between parts of systems higher in the hierarchy and parts of the system lower in the hierarchy is reduced. If all the parts of a system are tightly [[Coupling|coupled]] (interact with one another a lot) then the system cannot be decomposed into different systems. The amount of coupling between parts of a system may differ temporally, with some parts interacting more often than other, or for different processes in a system.<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1007/978-94-007-7470-4_24 |chapter=Hierarchy Theory: An Overview |title=Linking Ecology and Ethics for a Changing World |date=2013 |last1=Wu |first1=Jianguo |pages=281–301 |isbn=978-94-007-7469-8 }}</ref>{{Rp|page=293}} [[Herbert A. Simon]] distinguished between decomposable, nearly decomposable and nondecomposable systems.<ref name=":6" />{{Rp|page=72}}

[[Russell L. Ackoff]] distinguished general systems by how their goals and subgoals could change over time. He distinguished between goal-maintaining, [[Goal seeking|goal-seekin'''g''']], multi-goal and reflective (or goal-changing) systems.<ref name=":6" />{{Rp|page=73}}