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Elements and Relations: Aspects of a Scientific Metaphysics Elements and Relations: Aspects of a Scientific Metaphysics (2023) Martin Zwick Professor Emeritus, Complex Systems Program Portland State University, Portland OR 97207 This book develops the core proposition
that systems theory is an attempt to construct an “exact and scientific
metaphysics,” a system of general ideas central to science that can be
expressed mathematically. Collectively, these ideas would constitute a
nonreductionist “theory of everything” unlike what is being sought in
physics. Inherently transdisciplinary, systems theory offers ideas and
methods that are relevant to all of the sciences and also to professional
fields such as systems engineering, public To demonstrate the generality and importance
of the systems project, the book structures its content in three parts: Essay,
Notes, and Commentary. The Essay section is a short
distillation of systems ideas that illuminate the problems that many types of
systems face. Commentary explains systems thinking, its value, and its
relation to mainstream scientific knowledge. It shows how systems ideas
revise our understanding of science and how they impact our views on
religion, politics, and history. Finally, Notes contains all the
mathematics in the book, as well as scientific, philosophical, and poetic
content that is accessible to readers without a strong mathematical
background. Elements
and Relations is intended for researchers and students in the systems
(complexity) field as well as related fields of social science modeling,
systems biology and ecology, and cognitive science. It can be used as a
textbook in systems courses at the undergraduate or graduate level and for
STEM education. As much of the book does not require a background in
mathematics, it is also suitable for general readers in the natural and
social sciences as well as in the humanities, especially philosophy. Keywords
At
the Springer site https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-99403-7 At the above Springer site one can purchase the book in hardback or paperback form, as well as individual chapters. There are seven chapters: Essay is Chapter 1, Commentary is Chapters 2-6, Notes is a (very long) Chapter 7. One can also download
openly-accessible portions of the book, namely the front matter and back
matter of the book, as well as front matters for the Essay, Commentary, and
Notes sections. The links to download these portions are as follows: Front matter of book: Table of
Contents, To the Reader https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/bfm:978-3-030-99403-7/1 Front matter of Essay https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/bfm:978-3-030-99403-7/1/1 Front matter of Commentary https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/bfm:978-3-030-99403-7/2/1 Front matter of Notes https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/bfm:978-3-030-99403-7/3/1 Back matter of book: Appendix
(which includes a self-critique of the book), Lists of figures and tables,
References, Acknowledgments, Index https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/bbm:978-3-030-99403-7/1 Web Seminars on Elements and Relations Complex Systems, Big Data, and
Informatics Initiative (CSBII) Seminar on Elements and Relations: Aspects of
a Scientific Metaphysics (video, slides) (2023) A
course on Elements and Relations Systems
Philosophy SySc 421/521 Syllabus Fall 2023 Systems
Philosophy SySc 421/521 Flyer Fall 2023 Systems
Philosophy Fall 2023 Zoom recordings Export of the
Canvas site for Systems Philosophy Fall 2023 Below is a Canvas export of a 2022 course based on an earlier version of this book. At that time, however, the structure of the book was different than its final published version. Export of the
Canvas site for Systems Philosophy Spring 2022 |
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