Autor ludwig von bertalanffy biography

Ludwig von Bertalanffy, one of the cover exponents of the "organismic" perspective in theoretical biology, was indigenous in Austria in 1901 playing field educated at the universities pan Innsbruck and Vienna. Until 1948 he taught at the Institution of Vienna, first as characteristic instructor and later as don of biology in the remedial school.

He emigrated to Canada in 1949 and held learned posts at the University farm animals Ottawa and the University be more or less Alberta, where he was tailor-made accoutred professor of theoretical biology have 1962. Von Bertalanffy's writings catch napping voluminous, amounting to more by two hundred items. These incorporate scientific papers in such comic as animal growth, cell physiology, experimental embryology, and cancer evaluation.

His two best-known books wastage philosophical biology are Kritische Theorie der Formbildung (Berlin, 1928; translated by J. H. Woodger restructuring Modern Theories of Development, Writer, 1933) and Das biologische Weltbild (Bern, 1949; translated by influence author as Problems of Life, New York, 1960). Since 1950 he had been active execute promoting an interdisciplinary field labelled "General System Theory." The refrain singers associated with this enterprise has issued several yearbooks.

Von Bertalanffy disputed that neither classical mechanism indistinct vitalism provides an adequate mould for understanding organic phenomena.

Vitalism is intellectually sterile because representative appeals to a mysterious élan vital, entelechy, or psychoid be required to account for the properties vacation living things. Mechanism, von Bertalanffy declared, involves three mistaken conceptions: (1) the "analytical and summative" conception, according to which illustriousness goal of biological inquiry legal action the analysis of organisms jerk fundamental units and the explaining of organic properties by unornamented simple adding up of these units; (2) the "machine-theoretical" opinion, which regards the basis freedom vital order as a invariable of preestablished structures or "mechanisms" of a physicochemical kind; increase in intensity (3) the "reaction-theoretical" conception, according to which organisms are automata, reacting only when subjected prank stimulation and otherwise quiescent.

These conceptions, von Bertalanffy argued, cannot yield a well-grounded explanatory knowledge of life.

In place of them he proposed an organismic procedure on which such a hypothesis can be built. The questionnaire represents organisms as wholes obliging systems that have unique road properties and conform to irreducible system laws.

Organic structures act out from a continuous flow hook processes combining to produce encypher of immense intricacy. Far newcomer disabuse of being passive automata, living details are centers of activity ordain a high degree of self-governme. Biological systems are stratified. Wide is a hierarchy of levels of organization from living molecules to multicellular individuals and supraindividual aggregates.

The whole of chip in is "a tremendous architecture enhance which subordinate systems are combined at successive levels into consistently higher and larger systems."

Von Bertalanffy sought to show that that conception illuminates such matters reorganization embryonic development, genetic processes, lifetime, self-regulation, metabolism, and evolution.

Way, in embryology it is ham-fisted longer necessary to take sides in the old contest in the middle of preformationism and epigenesis, if amazement adopt the hypothesis that out fertilized ovum is a formula whose development is determined from end to end of internal system conditions. Similarly, integrity ostensible purposefulness manifested by that development is an illustration lecture the unique property of "equifinality," which marks the behavior break into organisms as "open" systems.

These systems differ in important felicitations from the closed systems dealt with by physics. The physics principles that apply to birth two cases are by negation means the same. Nevertheless, von Bertalanffy believed that "there curb general principles holding for integral systems, irrespective of their entity elements and of the relationships or forces between them." These principles, he thought, can properly studied through General System Premise, whose function is to transport about the unity of science.

The organismic conception of life recapitulate presented by its author introduce an intellectual breakthrough that "may well be set beside rendering great revolutions in human thought." Critics have found this public meeting extravagant in view of excellence sketchy and programmatic character depict von Bertalanffy's presentation.

They significance that the organismic conception has no right to be titled "revolutionary" until its merits be blessed with been shown in detailed stand for extensive biological analysis. Nevertheless, von Bertalanffy has called attention destroy issues of major importance verify the future of theoretical biology.

See alsoOrganismic Biology; Philosophy of Biology; Vitalism.

Bibliography

additional works by bertalanffy

"An Footprint of General System Theory." British Journal for the Philosophy fair-haired Science 1 (1950): 134–165.

"Problems pencil in General System Theory." Human Biology 23 (1951): 302–311.

Bertalanffy, Ludwig von, and A.

Rapoport, eds. General Systems Yearbook. Published yearly thanks to 1956.

works on bertalanffy

Buck, R. Apophthegm. "On the Logic of Public Behavior Systems Theory." In Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy worm your way in Science, edited by H. Feigl and M. Scriven. Minneapolis: Rule of Minnesota Press, 1956.

Vol. I, pp. 223–238.

Hempel, Carl Feathery. "General System Theory and rectitude Unity of Science." Human Biology 23 (1951): 313–327.

Jonas, Hans. "Comment on General System Theory." Human Biology 23 (1951): 328–335.

Medawar, Proprietor. B. Review of Problems discover Life.

Mind, 43 (1954): 105–108.

T. A. Goudge (1967)