Complexity and Philosophy Workshop

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Complexity and Philosophy Workshop

• 18-19 November, 2004
• Rio de Janeiro

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Recoiling from Mechanism/Linearism/Reductionism
For in spite of itself any movement that thinks
and acts in terms of an ism becomes so involved
in reaction against other isms that it is
unwittingly controlled by them. For it then forms
its principles by reaction against them instead
of by a comprehensive, constructive survey of
actual needs, problems, and possibilities.
(Dewey, 1938 6).

• From linear models to nonlinear models
• From reductionism to holism
• From realism to relativism
• From quantitative to qualitative
• From hard to soft

Much complexity writing is as philosophically
naïve as the writings they claim to reject and
replace
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Complexity and Philosophy

• Complexity is much more than a new set of
  models, or a new set of words/metaphors
• The crux of the matter for me is the
  problematisation of boundaries
• If all boundary allocations (assumptions) are
  provisional at best where might we find a
  position to temporarily justify some action?

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Complexity and Philosophy

• Building networked models (cellular automata,
  agent-based simulation, etc.) does not mean you
  are a complexity thinker!
• Using words like emergence, self-organization,
  etc. does not make you a complexity thinker!
• It is very common to use nonlinear models in a
  linear way.
• Complexity thinking is more of an (philosophical)
  attitude towards such things rather than a
  particular set of tools.

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Complexity and Philosophy
Like theology, philosophy consists of
speculations on matters as to which definite
knowledge, so far, been unascertainable but like
science, it appeals to human reason rather than
to authority, whether that of tradition or that
of revelation. All definite knowledge belongs
to science all dogma as to what surpasses
definite knowledge belongs to theology. But
between theology and science there is a no mans
land, exposed to attack from both sides this no
mans land is philosophy.
Almost all the questions of most interest to
speculative minds are such as science cannot
answer, and the confident answers of theologians
no longer seem so convincing as they did in
former centuries.
Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy,
1946.
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Complexity and Philosophy
Science tells us what we can know, but what we
can know is little, and if we forget how much we
cannot know we become insensitive to many things
of very great importance. Theology, on the other
hand, induces a dogmatic belief that we have
knowledge where is fact we have ignorance, and by
doing so generates a kind of impertinent
insolence towards the universe. Uncertainty, in
the presence of vivid hopes and fears, is
painful, but must be endured if we wish to live
without the support of comforting fairy-tales.
Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy,
1946.
Philosophy is an ongoing commitment to engage
critically with our ideas.
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What happened to philosophy?

• The perceived success of science ends the need
  for a discussion of ontology and epistemology.
• Yet, in management science there is a massive
  literature of Knowledge Management. In the
  sciences we have seen enormous interest in chaos
  theory, nonlinear mathematics, complex systems,
  etc.
• Despite their obvious implications for philosophy
  and the prevailing mode of thinking, there is no
  associated growth in our interest in philosophy.

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Workshop aims

• Raise the profile of philosophy (critical
  thinking) see it as an integral part of our day
  to day life rather than the activity of a removed
  group of outdated, out-of-touch, bearded hippies
  -o
• To explore the philosophical implications of
  complexity.