scholarly journals On the essence and ontology of systems

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gustavo De Jesus Perez
Keyword(s):  
Systems Theory ◽  
Human Activity ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Von Bertalanffy ◽  
Natural Systems ◽  
Specific Field ◽  
Theory Of Everything ◽  
A Cell ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Universe

In the first part of this research, publications were reviewed from 1968 to 2019, with the aim of observing how the definition of system has evolved, since it was established by Ludwig Von Bertalanffy. From this review it is concluded that this definition has not changed in essence, all the researchers consulted use concepts similar to those of Bertalanffy, when they propose a definition of system. However, according to the specific field of work, the authors add their own characteristics.Bertalanffy's definition and all that have been derived from it postulate that a system is a conglomerate of interacting components. But after a brief reasoning it is concluded that everything in our universe meets that definition. A system is an atom, a cell, a chair, a galaxy, or the universe as a whole. So systems theory would be the theory of everything, which is too broad and imprecise.Vagueness and imprecision have been eliminated when the concept of system has been applied to specific fields of knowledge and human activity and in each of them characteristics have been added that define more specifically the systems that are relevant to certain technical or scientific specialties. However, this has caused that many concepts developed in one field cannot be extended or used in others.In this work, a system definition is established that allows us to clearly and precisely describe what these entities are and distinguish them from other concepts and entities. In this way it has been possible to characterize what a system is, using concepts that are applicable to any of the types of systems that can be found in our known world: natural systems, man-made systems and social systems.

Accessibility of Technology in Higher Education

2011 ◽  
pp. 237-251
Author(s):  
Deborah W. Proctor
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Systems Theory ◽  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Human Activity ◽  
Open Systems ◽  
Activity Systems ◽  
Natural Systems ◽  
Dependent Change ◽  
Technology In Higher Education ◽  
Human Systems

In systems thinking divisions apparent in science specializations are seen “as arbitrary and man made” (Checkland, 1981, p. 4). A key idea embedded in systems theory is that it can assist us in understanding of phenomena and that its holistic emphasis will promote orderly thinking. According to Checkland (1981), there are natural systems, designed systems, abstract systems, and human activity systems (p. 112). Human activity systems can be broken down into examples of open systems that are relationship dependent. Change is inherent in human systems, as the intricacy of the relationships in these kinds of systems require continuous adaptations if the system is to remain stable. Checkland viewed human activity systems as wholes that are emphasized by the existence of other systems.

Accessibility of Technology in Higher Education

2011 ◽  
pp. 16-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah W. Proctor
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Systems Theory ◽  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Human Activity ◽  
Open Systems ◽  
Activity Systems ◽  
Natural Systems ◽  
Dependent Change ◽  
Technology In Higher Education ◽  
Human Systems

In systems thinking divisions apparent in science specializations are seen “as arbitrary and man made” (Checkland, 1981, p. 4). A key idea embedded in systems theory is that it can assist us in understanding of phenomena and that its holistic emphasis will promote orderly thinking. According to Checkland (1981), there are natural systems, designed systems, abstract systems, and human activity systems (p. 112). Human activity systems can be broken down into examples of open systems that are relationship dependent. Change is inherent in human systems, as the intricacy of the relationships in these kinds of systems require continuous adaptations if the system is to remain stable. Checkland viewed human activity systems as wholes that are emphasized by the existence of other systems.

Information Space and Information Process:Genesis and Evolution

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatiana Fedorovna Berestova
Keyword(s):  
Human Activity ◽  
Information Space ◽  
Information Process ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Concept Of Information ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Qualitative Characteristics

In this article,the phenomenon of "information space" and its methods of study, its types, elementary structure and qualitative characteristics are discussed, the author's definition of the concept of "information" is given, the structure of the information process, and the phases, which are the basis for the evolution of the information space and the universe of human activity, are considered.

Accessibility of Technology in Higher Education

2011 ◽  
pp. 16-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah W. Proctor
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Systems Theory ◽  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Human Activity ◽  
Open Systems ◽  
Activity Systems ◽  
Natural Systems ◽  
Dependent Change ◽  
Technology In Higher Education ◽  
Human Systems

In systems thinking divisions apparent in science specializations are seen “as arbitrary and man made” (Checkland, 1981, p. 4). A key idea embedded in systems theory is that it can assist us in understanding of phenomena and that its holistic emphasis will promote orderly thinking. According to Checkland (1981), there are natural systems, designed systems, abstract systems, and human activity systems (p. 112). Human activity systems can be broken down into examples of open systems that are relationship dependent. Change is inherent in human systems, as the intricacy of the relationships in these kinds of systems require continuous adaptations if the system is to remain stable. Checkland viewed human activity systems as wholes that are emphasized by the existence of other systems.

Managing uncertainty in healthcare interpreter-mediated interaction

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 150-164
Author(s):  
Claudio Baraldi ◽  
Laura Gavioli
Keyword(s):  
Systems Theory ◽  
Conversation Analysis ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Social Systems Theory ◽  
Intercultural Mediators ◽  
Or History

This paper analyses healthcare interactions involving doctors, migrant patients and ‘intercultural mediators’ who provide interpreting services. Our study is based on a collection of 300 interactions involving two language pairs, Arabic–Italian and English–Italian. The analytical framework includes conversation analysis combined with insights from social systems theory. We look at question-answer sequences, where (1) the doctors ask questions about patients’ problems or history, (2) the doctors’ questions are responded to and (3) the doctor closes the sequence, moving on to another question. We analyse the ways in which mediators help doctors design questions for patients and patients understand and eventually respond to the doctors’ design. While the doctor’s question design aims at obtaining details which are relevant for the patients’ care, it is argued that collecting such details involves complex interactional work. In particular, doctors need help in displaying their attention to their patients’ problems and in guiding patients’ responses into medically relevant directions. Likewise, patients need help in reacting appropriately. Mediators help manage communicative uncertainty both by showing the doctor’s interest in what the patient says, and by exploring and rendering the patient’s incomplete, extended and ambiguous answers to the doctor’s questions.

Feminist Interpretations of Action and the Public in Hannah Arendt’s Theory

2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (Special Issue) ◽  
pp. 87-103
Author(s):  
Noémi Bíró
Keyword(s):  
Human Activity ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
Hannah Arendt ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Public Realm ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Feminism ◽  
Definition Of

"Feminist Interpretations of Action and the Public in Hannah Arendt’s Theory. Arendt’s typology of human activity and her arguments on the precondition of politics allow for a variety in interpretations for contemporary political thought. The feminist reception of Arendt’s work ranges from critical to conciliatory readings that attempt to find the points in which Arendt’s theory might inspire a feminist political project. In this paper I explore the ways in which feminist thought has responded to Arendt’s definition of action, freedom and politics, and whether her theoretical framework can be useful in a feminist rethinking of politics, power and the public realm. Keywords: Hannah Arendt, political action, the Public, the Social, feminism "

¿Quién soy yo? Reflexiones teórico sistémicas acerca de la indentidad individual

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-31
Author(s):  
Francisco Xavier Morales
Keyword(s):  
Identity Construction ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Individual Identity ◽  
Contemporary Society ◽  
Self Identity ◽  
Moral Communication ◽  
Identity Based ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Individual

The problem of identity is an issue of contemporary society that is not only expressed in daily life concerns but also in discourses of politics and social movements. Nevertheless, the I and the needs of self-fulfillment usually are taken for granted. This paper offers thoughts regarding individual identity based on Niklas Luhmann’s systems theory. From this perspective, identity is not observed as a thing or as a subject, but rather as a “selfillusion” of a system of consciousness, which differentiates itself from the world, event after event, in a contingent way. As concerns the definition  of contents of self-identity, the structures of social systems define who is a person, how he or she should act, and how much esteem he or she should receive. These structures are adopted by consciousness as its own identity structures; however, some social contexts are more relevant for self-identity construction than others. Moral communication increases the probability that structure appropriation takes place, since the emotional element of identity is linked to the esteem/misesteem received by the individual from the interactions in which he or she participates.

A Group Awaiting Death: The Social Systems Perspective on a Naturally Occurring Group Situation

1983 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Starker ◽  
Joan E. Starker
Keyword(s):  
Intensive Care Unit ◽  
Intensive Care ◽  
Systems Theory ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Task Structure ◽  
Systems Perspective ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
The Social ◽  
Group Situation ◽  
Imminent Death

The decline and imminent death of an individual in a hospital's intensive care unit led to the creation of a transient group composed of family and friends. The dynamics of this tragic group are explored using the concepts provided by Social Systems theory. Ambiguity of the task structure and its inherent frustrations, fluidity of leadership and power, and failure of a utopian defense are all discussed as contributors to subsequent dissension and splitting. The social systems perspective provides a useful tool for understanding this naturally occurring group situation.

Symbolic Macroconcept of the Universe in the Aspect of the First Cognitive Sign in Russian Linguoculture

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-101
Author(s):  
Marina V. Pimenova ◽  
◽  
Aigul A. Bakirova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Middle Part ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
The World ◽  
Symbolic Meanings ◽  
New Type ◽  
Human World ◽  
Internal Volume ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Universe Structure ◽  
The Universe

The article analyzes the cognitive signs of the macroconcept universe in Russian linguoculture. The relevance of the research is determined by the prospect of studying a new type of mental structures - symbolic macroconcepts. The purpose of the article is to describe the specifics of the macroconcept universe structure formation from the standpoint of the definition of syncretic primordial signs. The main methods in the work are the historical and etymological analysis of the studied macroconcept representative, descriptive and interpretive methods. During the study, seven motivating signs of the macroconcept universe were noted: 'earth', 'live', ‘world’，‘inhabit’，‘inhabited’，‘settlement’，‘light’. All identified motivating signs are syncretic symbolic primordial signs 'house' (conceptum, according to V. V. Kolesov). Motivating signs express two main symbolic meanings of Russian linguoculture: home is a place where people live, settle; home is the world of people and all living beings, this world-light (unlike that world-light where the souls of the dead go: that world-light is located in the sky), it is built on earth. The macroconcept universe is objectified by erased metaphors of a closed space (in particular, the metaphor of a key), which has an internal volume, center-middle, limits, parts, edges, corners, people live in this house, they live and exist in it, it is inhabited and settle down in Russian linguoculture. The model of the universe in the Russian language picture of the world is three-parted: the middle part in it represents the human world, in which the principle of anthropocentrism is manifested - a person measures space and chooses himself as a reference point. The syncretic primary sign ‘house’ unites in itself all the motivating signs of the studied macroconcept, keeping their relevance to our days. Keywords: macroconcept, motivating signs, first sign, language picture of the world, linguoculture, comparative studies

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