BCSSS

International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics

2nd Edition, as published by Charles François 2004 Presented by the Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science Vienna for public access.

About

The International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics was first edited and published by the system scientist Charles François in 1997. The online version that is provided here was based on the 2nd edition in 2004. It was uploaded and gifted to the center by ASC president Michael Lissack in 2019; the BCSSS purchased the rights for the re-publication of this volume in 200?. In 2018, the original editor expressed his wish to pass on the stewardship over the maintenance and further development of the encyclopedia to the Bertalanffy Center. In the future, the BCSSS seeks to further develop the encyclopedia by open collaboration within the systems sciences. Until the center has found and been able to implement an adequate technical solution for this, the static website is made accessible for the benefit of public scholarship and education.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

OUGHTNESS: Two complementary systemic meanings 3)4)

There are two different identifiable meanings in systemic terms to the concept of "oughtness" as introduced by A. BAHM (1978 – 1992).

The regulation of road traffic offers a good example. First, traffic ought to be organized through rules in order to make it efficient as a transportation system. This includes priority rules, overtaking rules, maxima and minima speed limits, a code of traffic lights and other road Signals, etc… This "oughtness" is related to a sound organization and regulation of a very complex man-machine system, needed in order to avoid collective anarchy, leading to total paralysis.

Second, these rules and regulations would be totally ineffective if not obeyed by the human users. This is the "man" part of the man-machine system and it implies a sense of personal responsability in every user.

The traffic code must not only be understood as a set of integrated rules, but also as a system organized for the best welfare of all users, which ought to be respected for the sake of social harmony. As some users are not understanding this necessity, society as a whole created a special social corps – traffic patrols – to attend this non-tecnical aspect of the traffic system.

Curiously, this last feature introduces two quite different ways to understand oughtness: either through one's sense of responsability, or through the fear of penalties.

These different technical and social ways to understand what could be called techno-social situations are at the root of the differences opposing some systemists' point of views, as for example H.A. SIMON and C.W. CHURCHMAN.

Systems Philosophy

Categories

  • 1) General information
  • 2) Methodology or model
  • 3) Epistemology, ontology and semantics
  • 4) Human sciences
  • 5) Discipline oriented

Publisher

Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science(2020).

To cite this page, please use the following information:

Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science (2020). Title of the entry. In Charles François (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics (2). Retrieved from www.systemspedia.org/[full/url]


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