Systems Philosophy in use: A book review of Edgar Morin's and Jean-Louis Le Moigne's: 'L'intelligence de la Complexite'

摘要

The ambitious intellectual who takes the trouble to read old philosophers like Aristotle or Immanuel Kant will be surprised to see the actuality of their wisdom. We may also find that systems science is not as new as many of us think. The French systems scientists professors Edgar Morin and Jean-Louis le Moigne have seen this and now they bear "witness" of their leanings by the book L'intelligence de la Complexite. They also convey their own constructivist synthesis, in glory of a subjective, homoeomorphic modelling for modern design and management. A review of this book is now presented to an English-speaking audience. We offer some hints of the intellectual milieu it represents. We try to summarize the book and to record its message. Morin and Le Moigne do not, as many others, only criticize the positivist approaches for complex design. They give a coherent advice, though in abstract terms. I have the pleasure to make a referee's assessment and have come to the conclusion that this is an important book.