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Living Systems
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Analysis of Dynamic Psychological Systems
Drawing on sources from a wide range of disciplines, this first volume of a two volume tutorial on systems theory focuses on non-linear dynamical techniques for analysis of feedback processes, information flow, decision making, control theory, and modeling of human behavioral systems.
Social Entropy Theory
Social Entropy Theory illuminates the fundamental problems of societal analysis with a nonequilibrium approach, a new frame of reference built upon contemporary macrological principles, including general systems theory and information theory. Social entropy theory, using Shannon's H and the entropy concept, avoids the common (and often artificial) separation of theory and method in sociology. The hallmark of the volume is integration, as seen in the author's interdisciplinary discussions of equilibrium, entropy, and homeostasis. Unique features of the book are the introduction of the three-level model of social measurement, the theory of allocation, the concepts of global-mutable-immutable, discussion of order and power, and a large set of testable hypotheses.
Quine on Ontology, Necessity, and Experience
This study is a critique of Quine's views on three interrelated topics that figure prominently in his work and on which he has developed very distinctive opinions. Dr. Dilman provides detailed criticism of these views and contrasts them with Wittgenstein's understanding of the same topics. Throughout this systematic analysis, the author questions basic assumptions on which the Quinean edifice rests. The book argues that Quine's notion of ontology is riddled with inconsistencies and singles out examples for discussion. It argues that Quine's rejection of the distinction between necessary and contingent truths is unwarranted, and that the notion of analyticity, in terms of which he conducts this discussion, is a red herring. And it argues that the notion of experience and subordinate notion of the senses, which Quine uses to discuss the confirmation of propositions and to expound his brand of empiricism, are crude.
The Science of Synthesis
Debora Hammond's The Science of Synthesis explores the development of general systems theory and the individuals who gathered together around that idea to form the Society for General Systems Research. In examining the life and work of the SGSR's five founding members-Ludwig von Bertalanffy, Kenneth Boulding, Ralph Gerard, James Grier Miller, and Anatol Rapoport-Hammond traces the emergence of systems ideas across a broad range of disciplines in the mid-twentieth century. Both metaphor and framework, the systems concept as articulated by its earliest proponents highlights relationship and interconnectedness among the biological, ecological, social, psychological, and technological dimensions...
From Antarctica to Outer Space
From Antarctica to Outer Space: Life in Isolation and Confinement aims to revitalize and encourage behavioral research in spaceflight as well as in polar and comparable settings. It comprises a broad collection of papers that evolved from presentations at a three day conference entitled The Human Experience in Antarctica: Applications to Life in Space (The Sunnyvale Conference). This conference was co-sponsored by the Division of Polar Programs of the National Science Foundation and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and held in 1987. The book provides, through firsthand accounts and research reviews, an introduction to the human facet in isolated and confined environments such as Antarctica, outer space, submarines, and remote national parks. The book discusses some of the theoretical issues underlying research on isolated and confined people, thus demonstrating the applicability of certain general theories of behavior. It also focuses on basic psychological and social responses to isolation and confinement. Studies whose primary purpose is to explore the effects of selection, training, and environmental design on human behavior and mission outcomes are discussed.
No More Hunger
No More Hunger, written by William Dudley Pelley in the throes of the Great Depression of the 1930s and revised in 1961, presents an examination of the economic and financial flaws of private capitalism. It then outlines the features of a Christian Commonwealth that would unleash the full productive capability of the nation, with full implementation of human rights for every solitary citizen. During its republication in the sixties, thousands of copies were printed. They were read by those who were protesting the economic and financial inequities of our society, and by those who opposed the nation's untenable and brutal embroilment in the Vietnam War. Mr. Pelley passed on in 1965; nearly hal...
The Knowledge Book
"The Knowledge Book" is a unique interdisciplinary reference work for students and researchers concerned with the nature of knowledge. It is the first work of its kind to be organized on the assumption that whatever else knowledge might be, it is intrinsically social. The book consists of 42 alphabetically arranged entries on key concepts at the intersection of philosophy and sociology - what used to be called "sociology of knowledge" but is now increasingly called "social epistemology". The entries include concepts common to disciplines that in recent years have devoted more of their attention to knowledge: cultural studies, communication studies, information science, education, policy studies and business studies. Special attention is given to concepts from the emerging field of science and technology studies. Each entry presents a short, self-contained essay providing an overview of a concept and concludes with suggestions for further reading. All the entries are fully cross-referenced, allowing readers to both make connections and follow their own interests.
Sociology and the New Systems Theory
This book provides current information about the many recent contributions of social systems theory. While some sociologists feel that the systems age ended with functionalism, in reality a number of recent developments have occurred within the field. The author makes these developments accessible to sociologists and other non-systems scholars, and begins a synthesis of the burgeoning systems field and mainstream sociological theory. The analysis shows not only that important points of rapprochement exist between systems theory and sociological theory, but also that systems theory has in some cases anticipated developments needed in mainstream theory.
Word and Object, new edition
A new edition of Quine's most important work. Willard Van Orman Quine begins this influential work by declaring, "Language is a social art. In acquiring it we have to depend entirely on intersubjectively available cues as to what to say and when." As Patricia Smith Churchland notes in her foreword to this new edition, with Word and Object Quine challenged the tradition of conceptual analysis as a way of advancing knowledge. The book signaled twentieth-century philosophy's turn away from metaphysics and what Churchland calls the "phony precision" of conceptual analysis. In the course of his discussion of meaning and the linguistic mechanisms of objective reference, Quine considers the indeter...
