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Mechanism... provides us with no grasp of the specific characteristics of organisms, of the organization of organic processes among one another, of o… - Ludwig von Bertalanffy
" "Mechanism... provides us with no grasp of the specific characteristics of organisms, of the organization of organic processes among one another, of organic 'wholeness', of the problem of the origin of organic 'teleology', or of the historical character of organisms... We must therefore try to establish a new standpoint which — as opposed to mechanism — takes account of organic wholeness, but... treats it in a manner which admits of scientific investigation.
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About Ludwig von Bertalanffy
Ludwig von Bertalanffy (September 19, 1901 – June 12, 1972) was an Austrian-born biologist, who grew up in Austria and subsequently worked in Vienna, London, Canada, and the USA. He is known as one of the founders of general systems theory; an interdisciplinary practice that describes systems with interacting components, applicable to biology, cybernetics and other fields. Bertalanffy proposed that the classical laws of thermodynamics applied to closed systems, but not necessarily to "open systems," such as living things. His mathematical model of an organism's growth over time, published in 1934, is still in use today.
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Alternative Names:
Karl Ludwig von Bertalanffy
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Additional quotes by Ludwig von Bertalanffy
Therefore, general systems theory should be, methodologically, an important means of controlling and instigating the transfer of principles from one field to another, and it will no longer be necessary to duplicate or triplicate the discovery of the same principles in different fields isolated from the other.
There are correspondences in the principles which govern the behavior of entities that are intrinsically widely different. These correspondences are due to the fact that they all can be considered, in certain aspects, "systems," that is, complexes of elements standing in interaction. [It seems] that a general theory of systems would be a useful tool providing, on the one hand, models that can be used in, and transferred to, different fields, and safeguarding, on the other hand, from vague analogies which often have marred the progress in these fields.
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