English

What is a Systems Approach?

Adaptation and Self-Organizing Systems 2008-09-11 v1

Abstract

What is a systems approach? The first step towards answering this question is an understanding of the history of the systems movement, which includes a survey of contemporary systems discourse. In particular, I examine how systems researchers differentiated their contribution from mechanistic science - but also from holistic doctrines; and identify the similarities and sharpest differences between complex systems and other systems approaches. Having set the scene, the second step involves developing a definition of 'system' consistent with the spirit of the systems approach.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.0809.1698,
  title  = {What is a Systems Approach?},
  author = {Alex J. Ryan},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0809.1698},
  year   = {2008}
}

Comments

39 pages

R2 v1 2026-06-21T11:18:38.422Z