Metadecisions Rehabilitating Epistemology
Metadecisions: Rehabilitating Epistemology constitutes an epistemological inquiry about the foundations of knowledge of a scientific discipline. This text warns contemporary scientific disciplines that neglecting epistemological issues threatens the viabi
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Contemporary Systems Thinking Series Editor: Robert L. Flood Monash University Australia
DESIGNING SOCIAL SYSTEMS IN A CHANGING WORLD Bela H. Banathy GUIDED EVOLUTION OF SOCIETY A Systems View Bela H. Banathy LIBERATING SYSTEMS THEORY Robert L. Flood METADECISIONS Rehabilitating Epistemology John P. van Gigch OPERATIONAL RESEARCH AND SYSTEMS The Systemic Nature of Operational Research Paul Keys POWER, IDEOLOGY, AND CONTROL John C. Oliga SELF-PRODUCING SYSTEMS Implications and Applications of Autopoiesis John Mingers SOCIOPOLITICAL ECOLOGY Human Systems and Ecological Fields Frederick L. Bates SYSTEMIC INTERVENTION Philosophy, Methodology, and Practice Gerald Midgley SYSTEMS METHODOLOGY FOR THE MANAGEMENT SCIENCES Michael C. Jackson AContinllllion 0nIet Plan is available for this Jeries. Acontinuation order will brinCdclivery or each new volume immediately upon publication. Volumes .... biDed only upon IClual shipment For flll1her information please con1lCl the publisher.
METADECISIONS REHABILITATING EPISTEMOLOGY John P. van Gigch Professor Emeritus. California State University
With A Foreword By
C. West Churchman Professor Emeritus. University of California
Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
Author Contact lohn P. van Gigch e-mail: [email protected] ISBN 978-1-4613-4922-8 ISBN 978-1-4615-0097-1 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-4615-0097-1 @2003 Springer Science+Business Media New York Originally published by Kluwer Academic / Plenum Publishers in 2003 Softcover reprint ofthe hardcover Ist edition 2003
W 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 A C.I.P. record for this book is available from the Library of Congress AII rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work.
Dedication
We dedicate this book to Dr. C. W. Churchman's undying legacy. He is one ofthe great thinkers ofour time. His contributions pervade many aspects of the philosophy of management and the science of management, where 'management' is to be interpreted as encompassing all the activities by which humankind organizes its life on earth and beyond. Dr. Churchman has tried to restore ethics and aesthetics as central concerns to inquiring systems that design artefacts. At a time when corporate greed, individual enrichment and utter disregard for fellow workers and 'the larger social good' are pervasive, Dr. Churchman has championedfor more compassion for the aggrieved, the poor, and the dispossessed. His passions are to counter greed, individualism and the destructive creed of 'survival ofthe fittest. ' We must ensure that his plea is not lost in the wilderness. Dr. Churchman's inspiration is palpable throughout the text. In a course ofan interview that we taped (back in nineteen ninety-eight), h
