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

SYSTEMS (Isomorphic) 2)3)

← Back

Two, or more, systems models whose features are equivalent.

Only models can be isomorphic. No model is totally isomorphic to a concrete system. Isomorphic models occupy a specific level in the whole taxonomy of abstract systems.

G. KLIR explains this as follows: "The largest and most fundamental classes of systems are those associated with the described epistemological types. They are further classified by the various methodological distinctions. The more of these distinctions are introduced, the smaller classes of systems are obtained. The smallest classes of systems are reached when systems become totally equivalent in terms of their relations, i.e. isomorphic with each others" (1991, p.222).

This is a top-down interpretation.

Another, bottom-up, seems possible, in step with increasing degrees of abstraction, as shown by KORZYBSKI in his structural differential: More and more general categories of objects can be represented through more and more abstract "labels", with a diminishing number or more and more general characteristics. In this sense, for instance, networks of different types can be isomorphically characterized, being different however from hierarchies, another type of isomorphic models.

It would seem that both ways lead to the same general systemic result.

For another angle see: "SYSTEM (Isomorphic)".

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]

We thank the following partners for making the open access of this volume possible:

© 2020 BCSSS Contact/Imprint