A SYSTEMS APPROACH to CONSCIOUSNESS Theories
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CHAPTER THREE AN ALTERNATIVE METHODOLOGY: A SYSTEMS APPROACH TO CONSCIOUSNESS Theories of mysticism are acts of interpretation. They involve the construal of meaning according to particular (implicit or explicit) models or interpretive frameworks. Any theory of mysticism, then, requires articulating and defending the model it uses. Since the piv- otal problem for many theories is the nature of mystical experience, this model or framework is generally psychological and/or episte- mological in nature. Constructivist epistemology constitutes one pos- sible framework, but, as shown in the previous chapter, constructivism is in various ways inadequate. The study of mysticism requires alter- native models. The aim of this chapter is to present one alternative: a model of consciousness based on the principles of systems theory. This systems-based model will be used in subsequent chapters to interpret Dzogchen and German mysticism. In the final chapter I show how this analysis supports the mystical pluralist thesis. Because a systems approach to mind is based on the general principles of systems theory, this chapter begins with an overview of systems the- ory’s basic concepts as background for the psychological discussion to follow. Systems Theory: An Overview Systems theory, in its most generalized form, is simply an orienta- tion to the study of phenomena as systems. It focuses on the systemic dimensions or properties of phenomena (such as structure, organi- zation, evolutionary dynamics, etc.), based on the premise that under- standing a given object, event, or organism often requires appreciating it as a non-summative whole rather than as an assemblage of parts.1 This focus on the systemic dimensions of phenomena encompasses 1 Fritjof Capra, The Web of Life: A New Scientific Understanding of Living Systems (New York: Doubleday, 1996), 27–9. See also Michael J. Seidler, “Problems of Systems Epistemology,” International Philosophical Quarterly 19/1 (1979): 34. 88 chapter three a broad range of fields and approaches, including Ludwig von Bertalanffy’s general system theory, Norbert Wiener’s cybernetics, Ilya Prigogine’s theory of dissipative structures, chaos theory, non- linear dynamics, etc. Within any of these sub-fields, systems theory may be understood in ways that extend the general concern with systems to include specific research agendas, mathematical tools, and/or normative claims regarding the nature and functioning of systems (or classes of systems). Systems theory is generally considered to have been founded by Ludwig von Bertalanffy in the 1930s,2 although as Fritjof Capra points out, Alexander Bogdaboz presented a highly developed “sys- tems theory” (Bogdaboz called it “Tektology”) as early as 1912.3 In either case, systems theory as an explicitly articulated approach echoes ideas implicit in the thought of much earlier thinkers, such as Goethe, Blake, and Kant.4 In 1884 Le Chatelier proposed his Principle of Equilibrium,5 also foreshadowing the systems approach. In the 1920s, Walter Canon’s introduction of the concept of homeostasis,6 as well as an emerging emphasis among biologists on viewing “living organ- isms as integrated wholes,”7 were important precursors to Bertalanffy’s work in particular.8 Two sub-fields of systems theory that are particularly applicable to mind are cybernetics and dynamical systems theory (also referred to as ‘dynamics’ or ‘non-linear dynamics’). The first was developed by Norbert Wiener in the 1940s. Wiener defined cybernetics as “the science of ‘control and communication in the animal and the machine’” 2 Ludwig von Bertalanffy, “General System Theory—A Critical Review,” in Modern Systems Research for the Behavioral Scientist, ed. Walter Buckley (Chicago: Aldine Publishing Co., 1968), 13. 3 Capra, Web of Life, 43ff. 4 Ibid., 21–2. 5 This principle states that “if a system in equilibrium is subjected to a change threatening the equilibrium, the system attempts to annul the change.” Jeffrey Goldstein, “Unbalancing Psychoanalytic Theory: Moving Beyond the Equilibrium Model of Freud’s Thought,” in Chaos Theory in Psychology and the Life Sciences, eds. Robin Robertson and Allan Combs (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1995), 242. 6 Capra, Web of Life, 43; Stephen E. Francis, “Chaotic Phenomena in Psychophysio- logical Self-Regulation,” in Chaos Theory in Psychology and the Life Sciences, eds. Robin Robertson and Allan Combs (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1995), 254. 7 Capra, Web of Life, 17. 8 For an excellent overview of the historical origins of systems theory, see Capra, Web of Life, 17ff..