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Overview of Contributions
Overview of Contributions he first papers address the epistemological sentationalism”). Evidence for the first comes e.g. status of representation and possible catego- from connectionism which has demonstrated that T rizations. These rather general consider- brain-like structures can function without explicit ations about representation are followed by contri- representations. Arguments for the second are of a butions that focus on computational approaches, philosophic nature denying the possibility of speak- especially on how meaning can be simulated in arti- ing of fixed entities of the world, and, instead, pro- ficial devices, and how meaning can be grounded. posing that the “things” are defined only with Solutions are offered on various levels, among them respect to their user and thus cannot be “mapped” symbol grounding and system-theoretical consider- onto the brain of that user. Matthias Scheutz inves- ations to representation. Various disciplines inde- tigates the ontological status of representations, and pendently arrive at emphasizing the importance of questions whether they are entities on their own; he actions for representations and the necessity to argues that whether something counts as represen- close the sensory–motor loop; examples from the tation of something else is dependent on the level of perspective of computational approaches (“embod- description. By talking about a mental structure rep- iment” into an environment), the neuroscientific resenting something in the world, one implies that perspective (“top-down” processes), the psycholog- these two things exist on two different ontological ical perspective and others are presented. Several levels. This is not true, however, since the mind and papers address the role of social interactions—in the things of the world are both entities within our particular language—as a means of stabilizing sys- cognitive experience. -
Guide to the Systems Engineering Body of Knowledge (Sebok) Version 1.3
Guide to the Systems Engineering Body of Knowledge (SEBoK) version 1.3 Released May 30, 2014 Part 2: Systems Please note that this is a PDF extraction of the content from www.sebokwiki.org Copyright and Licensing A compilation copyright to the SEBoK is held by The Trustees of the Stevens Institute of Technology ©2014 (“Stevens”) and copyright to most of the content within the SEBoK is also held by Stevens. Prominently noted throughout the SEBoK are other items of content for which the copyright is held by a third party. These items consist mainly of tables and figures. In each case of third party content, such content is used by Stevens with permission and its use by third parties is limited. Stevens is publishing those portions of the SEBoK to which it holds copyright under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/deed.en_US for details about what this license allows. This license does not permit use of third party material but gives rights to the systems engineering community to freely use the remainder of the SEBoK within the terms of the license. Stevens is publishing the SEBoK as a compilation including the third party material under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ for details about what this license allows. This license will permit very limited noncommercial use of the third party content included within the SEBoK and only as part of the SEBoK compilation. -
Cybernetics 1950
SOME OF THE PROBLEMS CONCERNING DIGITAL [11] NOTIONS IN THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM RALPH W. GERARD Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, University of Chicago I should like to begin by saying, especially for the benefit of the newcomers, that this particular group is the most provocative one with which I am associated. I owe more new ideas and viewpoints to the meetings we have had over the past few years than to any other similar experience; our gatherings, therefore, have evoked some insights. The subject and the group have also provoked a tremendous amount of external inter- est, almost to the extent of a national fad. They have also prompted extensive articles in such well known scientific magazines as Time, News-Week, and Life. Some of these events have, in turn, led me to speak to you this morning. It seems to me, in looking back over the history of this group, that we started our discussions and sessions in the »as if« spirit. Everyone was delighted to express any idea that came into his mind, whether it seemed silly or certain or merely a stimulating guess that would affect someone else. We explored possibilities for all sorts of »ifs.« Then, rather sharply it seemed to me, we began to talk in an »is« idiom. We were say- ing much the same things, but now saying them as if they were so. I remembered a definition of pregnancy: »the result of taking seriously something poked at one in fun,« and wondered if we had become pregnant and were in some danger of premature delivery. -
Edgar Morin’S Path of Complexity
FOREWORD EDGAR MORIN’S PATH OF COMPLEXITY ALFONSO MONTUORI Ndlr: A Montuori et l’éditeur de ‘On Complexity’ nous autorisent à reprender ici le texte anglais de la préface de l’ouvrage d’Edgar Morin qu’ils publient « ON COMPLEXITY » The reform in thinking is a key anthropological and historical problem. This implies a mental revolution of considerably greater proportions than the Copernican revolution. Never before in the history of humanity have the responsibilities of thinking weighed so crushingly on us. Does knowing that knowledge cannot be guaranteed by a foundation not mean that we have already acquired a first fundamental knowledge? And should this not lead us to abandon the architectural metaphor, in which the term “foundation” assumes an indispensable meaning, in favor of a musical metaphor of construction in movement that transforms in its very movement the constitutive elements that form it? And might we not also consider the knowledge of knowledge as a construction in movement? We need a kind of thinking that reconnects that which is disjointed and compartmentalized, that respects diversity as it recognizes unity, and that tries to discern interdependencies. We need a radical thinking (which gets to the root of problems), a multidimensional thinking, and an organizational or systemic thinking. History has not reached a stagnant end, nor is it triumphantly marching towards the radiant future. It is being catapulted into an unknown adventure. Edgar Morin: A Biblio-biography Perhaps the best way to provide a contextual introduction to Morin’s work is through an outline of his intellectual trajectory, in the form of a “biblio-biography.” A review of Morin’s journey helps us, I believe, to better understand the man and his mission in the essays that follow. -
American Society for Cybernetics the Heinz Von Foerster Society
American Society for Cybernetics The Warren McCulloch Award of the American Society for Cybernetics is awarded to The Heinz von Foerster Society for an extensive, prolonged, deep and successful commitment to the furtherance of the work of Heinz von Foerster and other cyberneticians concerned with second-order cybernetics and related approaches and understandings. Beginning with a major interview book with Heinz von Foerster (“Der Anfang von Himmel und Erde hat keinen Namen: Eine Selbsterschaffung in sieben Tagen” about to appear in English translation), members of the Heinz for Foerster Society have promoted second order cybernetics in general, and the work of Heinz von Foerster, Gordon Pask, Ernst von Glasersfeld and Richard Jung in particular, in the conferences and lectures they have funded and promoted over the past 10 years. Emerging from their first conference, the book “An Unfinished Revolution” is a key critical and reference work covering the progress so far of second-order cybernetics. Together with the publishers echoraum, they have also published a series of books on mainly second-order cybernetic topics, with authors including ASC members; and recently began a new series with the book “Trojan Horses,” which emerged from the ASC’s 2010 conference held in Troy, NY. The Heinz von Foerstar Society has been successful in directing new public attention to cybernetics in both the English and the German speaking worlds. Theirs is a major contribution to the furtherance of cybernetics, both in terms of public attention and publicity, and in the continuing development of our subject area. Ranulph Glanville President of the American Society for Cybernetics 2013/08/01. -
An Overview of the Soft Systems Methodology Stuart Burge
System Thinking: Approaches and Methodologies An Overview of the Soft Systems Methodology Stuart Burge The Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) was born out of research conducted at Lancaster University to apply Systems Engineering approaches to solve “management/business problems”. In other words they attempted to apply a Hard Systems approach to fix business problems. What they discovered was the approach often stumbled at the first step of problem definition. This happens quite simply because the different stakeholders have divergent views on what constitutes the system, the purpose of the system and therefore the problem. Two key players in the development of the SSM are Peter Checkland [1999] and Brian Wilson [2001] who through “action research” were able to put together a practical and pragmatic approach to the identification and solution of “soft” ill-defined problems. This methodology was more than just a process; Checkland and Wilson also developed a set of tools to help users carry out the steps. These include: • Rich Picture • Conceptual Model • CATWOE • Formal Systems Model More on these later because, at this point, I would like to focus on the approach. Figure 1 presents a view of the SSM. Since its origin back in 1970’s and 80’s it has changed as various workers have added their bit. Figure 1 shows a 7-step process approach to SSM. I have chosen this view, that while it is an early representation, it does allow several key and important aspects of SSM to be made clear. Figure 1: The 7 Step Soft Systems Methodology © Burge Hughes Walsh 2015 page 1 System Thinking: Approaches and Methodologies Before launching into detail about the 7-steps it is worthwhile explaining the overall philosophy behind SSM. -
Understanding Henri Lefebvre
Understanding Henri Lefebvre Theory and the Possible Stuart Elden continuum LONDON • NEW YORK Continuum The Tower Building, 15 East 26th Street 11 York Road New York London SE1 7NX NY 10010 www.continuumbooks.com © Stuart Elden 2004 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN: 0-8264-7002-5 (HB) 0-8264-7003-3 (PB) Typeset by Refinecatch Ltd, Bungay Suffolk Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books Ltd, Bodmin, Cornwall Contents Acknowledgements v Introduction: Henri Lefebvre 1901-91 1 1 Rethinking Marxism 15 A new reading of Marx 15 The 'juvenile presumptions' of existentialism 19 Structuralism as the French ideology 22 Logic and dialectics 27 Applications of the dialectic 36 Alienation 39 Production 43 The Party and beyond 46 2 Engaging with philosophy 65 Beyond Marxism 65 The Philosophies group, Schelling and Hegel 67 Nietzsche against the fascists 73 Heidegger and the metaphysics of the Grand Guignol 76 Metaphilosophy 83 Descartes and literature 85 3 The critique of everyday life 110 A day in the life 111 A critique of the present 115 Festival and revolution 117 4 From the rural to the urban 127 The town and the country 129 A sack of potatoes 135 Reading rural spaces 13 7 The -
Warren Mcculloch and the British Cyberneticians
Warren McCulloch and the British cyberneticians Article (Accepted Version) Husbands, Phil and Holland, Owen (2012) Warren McCulloch and the British cyberneticians. Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, 37 (3). pp. 237-253. ISSN 0308-0188 This version is available from Sussex Research Online: http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/43089/ This document is made available in accordance with publisher policies and may differ from the published version or from the version of record. If you wish to cite this item you are advised to consult the publisher’s version. Please see the URL above for details on accessing the published version. Copyright and reuse: Sussex Research Online is a digital repository of the research output of the University. Copyright and all moral rights to the version of the paper presented here belong to the individual author(s) and/or other copyright owners. To the extent reasonable and practicable, the material made available in SRO has been checked for eligibility before being made available. Copies of full text items generally can be reproduced, displayed or performed and given to third parties in any format or medium for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge, provided that the authors, title and full bibliographic details are credited, a hyperlink and/or URL is given for the original metadata page and the content is not changed in any way. http://sro.sussex.ac.uk Warren McCulloch and the British Cyberneticians1 Phil Husbands and Owen Holland Dept. Informatics, University of Sussex Abstract Warren McCulloch was a significant influence on a number of British cyberneticians, as some British pioneers in this area were on him. -
What Can Architecture Learn from Ecological Systems?
Interweaving Architecture and Ecology – A Theoretical Perspective Or: What can architecture learn from ecological systems? Batel Dinur Abstract This paper is part of an on-going research which attempts to reveal whether an analogy between ecology and architecture can benefit architectural design and if so, then in what ways. The analogy is done through an interpretation of three ecological principles which define the organization of living systems and then attempts to reveal how these three ecological principles may be implemented in architecture. The paper firstly describes the problem at hand and the need for a new model for architecture which may be better informed by the study of ecological systems. It then elaborates on the definition of the three ecological principles (fluctuations, stratification, and interdependence) which were chosen for investigation because they define the organization of living systems and therefore may be relevant as a basis for an analogy between ecology and architecture. The paper then presents brief examples of the current and possible further realization of these ecological principles in architecture. Keywords: ecology, architecture, living systems’ organization, process, fluctuations, stratification, interdependence. Introduction In this paper I will try to illuminate how an ecological understanding of systems may contribute to architectural design. An ‘ecological understanding of systems’ means to understand how the components of a living system function together and make the system what it is. My question is whether a better understanding of these living processes may move architecture away from a perceived obsession with the static object, and into a more dynamic system? My argument is that a truly environmental architecture cannot be reached through the refinement of the static object alone, but must address complex interactions, and that these might be best informed through a study of ecology. -
Human Creation, Imagination and Autonomy a Brief Introduction to Castoriadis’ Social and Psychoanalytical Philosophy
HUMAN CREATION, IMAGINATION AND AUTONOMY A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO CASTORIADIS’ SOCIAL AND PSYCHOANALYTICAL PHILOSOPHY Theofanis Tassis University of Crete Introduction Cornelius Castoriadis has been one of the most important and innovative intellectuals of the second half of the 20th century. Philosopher, revolutionary, co-founder of the legendary group and journal Socialisme ou Barbarie, practicing psychoanalyst who revised Freudian theory, political intellectual who inspired workers and students during the May 1968 events in France, professional economist in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, recognized hellenist, distinguished representative of the radical left and supporter of the project of autonomy. As Jürgen Habermas states, Cornelius Castoriadis undertook “…the most original, the most ambitious and the most profound task to view … the liberating interference of history, society, inner and outer nature, as an act”.1 Octavio Paz refers to him as an intellectual “to whom we owe a precious elucidation of politics and philosophy”,2 Edgar Morin names him “a titan of the spirit”,3 and Axel Honneth characterizes him as “the last representative and renovator of the tradition of the European Left and the creator of an influential theory”.4 According to Hans Joas, 1 Jürgen Habermas, Der philosophische Diskurs der Moderne, Suhrkamp, 1985, p. 380. 2 Octavio Paz, “Itinerarum, Kleine politische Autobiographie”, in Frankfurt Allgemeine, 1993, p. 56. 3 Edgar Morin, « Castoriadis: un titan de l’esprit (necrologie) », in Le Monde, 30 December 1997, p. 1. 4 Axel Honneth, “Die Kreativität des Sozialen: Zum Tode von Cornelius Castoriadis”, in Frankfurter Rundschau, 30 December 1997. Philosophica, 37, Lisboa, 2011, pp. 197-213 198 Theofanis Tassis Castoriadis’s theory is “…the most original contemporary attempt to express a political philosophy through the notion of creativity”.5 However, for a long time, his ideas, circulated broadly, and became more famous than his name. -
Neuerscheinungsdienst 2017 ND 08
Neuerscheinungsdienst Jahrgang: 2017 ND 08 Stand: 22. Februar 2017 Deutsche Nationalbibliothek (Leipzig, Frankfurt am Main) 2017 ISSN 1611-0153 urn:nbn:de:101-201612064955 2 Hinweise Der Neuerscheinungsdienst ist das Ergebnis der Ko- blikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; de- operation zwischen der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek und taillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über der MVB Marketing- und Verlagsservice des Buchhandels http://dnb.dnb.de abrufbar. GmbH. Ziel dieser Kooperation ist zum einen die Hebung Bibliographic information published by the Deut- des Qualitätsstandards des Verzeichnisses lieferbarer sche Nationalbibliothek Bücher (VLB) und zum anderen die Verbesserung der The Deutsche Naitonalbibliothek lists this publication in Aktualität und Vollständigkeit der Deutschen Nationalbi- the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic bliografie. In der Titelaufnahme wird der entsprechende data are available in the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de. Link zu den Verlagsangaben direkt geschaltet; ebenso Information bibliographique de la Deutsche Natio- alle anderen möglichen Links. nalbibliothek Die Verleger melden ihre Titel in einem einzigen Vor- La Deutsche Nationalbibliothek a répertoiré cette publi- gang für das VLB und den Neuerscheinungsdienst der cation dans la Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; les données Deutschen Nationalbibliothek. Dieser zeigt somit alle bibliographiques détaillées peuvent être consultées sur Neumeldungen von Titeln an, die auch in das VLB ein- Internet à l’adresse http://dnb.dnb.de gehen. Die VLB-Redaktion leitet die Meldungen an die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek weiter. Die Titel werden oh- Die Verleger übersenden gemäß den gesetzlichen Vor- ne weitere Änderungen im Neuerscheinungsdienst der schriften zur Pflichtablieferung zwei Pflichtexemplare je Deutschen Nationalbibliothek angezeigt. Die Titelanzei- nach Zuständigkeit an die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek gen selbst sind, wie auf der Sachgruppenübersicht an- nach Frankfurt am Main oder nach Leipzig. -
Writing the History of Dynamical Systems and Chaos
Historia Mathematica 29 (2002), 273–339 doi:10.1006/hmat.2002.2351 Writing the History of Dynamical Systems and Chaos: View metadata, citation and similar papersLongue at core.ac.uk Dur´ee and Revolution, Disciplines and Cultures1 brought to you by CORE provided by Elsevier - Publisher Connector David Aubin Max-Planck Institut fur¨ Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Berlin, Germany E-mail: [email protected] and Amy Dahan Dalmedico Centre national de la recherche scientifique and Centre Alexandre-Koyre,´ Paris, France E-mail: [email protected] Between the late 1960s and the beginning of the 1980s, the wide recognition that simple dynamical laws could give rise to complex behaviors was sometimes hailed as a true scientific revolution impacting several disciplines, for which a striking label was coined—“chaos.” Mathematicians quickly pointed out that the purported revolution was relying on the abstract theory of dynamical systems founded in the late 19th century by Henri Poincar´e who had already reached a similar conclusion. In this paper, we flesh out the historiographical tensions arising from these confrontations: longue-duree´ history and revolution; abstract mathematics and the use of mathematical techniques in various other domains. After reviewing the historiography of dynamical systems theory from Poincar´e to the 1960s, we highlight the pioneering work of a few individuals (Steve Smale, Edward Lorenz, David Ruelle). We then go on to discuss the nature of the chaos phenomenon, which, we argue, was a conceptual reconfiguration as