Systemic Choices

"The revolution in social scientific theory and practice known as nonlinear dynamics, chaos, or complexity began over a half-century ago with the General Systems Movement and is now culminating with the widespread use of tools and concepts derived from recent advances in the physical, biological, and cognitive sciences. By tracing a number of conceptual threads from previous and ongoing misadventures in mathematics cybernetics, and various other applied systems theoretics, this book weaves a persuasive new ecological tapestry, well suited to the current era of enhanced computational capabilities. Addressing along the way a number of persistent philosophical issues, ranging from the nature of human rationality to free will, the book describes a path for revitalizing the social sciences in time to address the "human condition" in the new millennium."--Jacket.