A recurring theme in philosophic discussion for over two thousand years has been the nature of being and the nature of things. Aristotle was certain that fire and water were not the corpus of things. Spinoza, and more recently, Heidegger laid the foundation for 20th century thinking on the nature of being. Heidegger developed the notion of the Dasein, which is an existence that human beings uniquely possess and it relates to how things are perceived, encountered and used in everyday life. For example, a hammer is a hammer because it is used in the way a hammer is used. Computing technology is a fundamentally different thing from other technologies because it is infinitely malleable. It has an amplifying effect on perceptions. It is perceived in so many ways because it can be used in so many different ways.
Humankind and technology
appear inextricably linked in a tapestry of near-infinite complexity. A
decidedly human artifact--General Systems Theory, however, has tamed some
of the chaos behind the beast.
It became clear
after the call-for-papers for this special issue was proffered and the
manuscripts began to arrive, that the systems approach and C. West Churchman
have changed the way we perceive and construct systems. What is also clear
is that the systems approach--and philosophy in general-- is a durable
reasoning mechanism. Churchman’s legacy, however, transcends the systems
approach. It is his constant reminder that we are ethical and moral human
beings, that we should pay attention to the death of a single child in
Africa, that sets him apart.
This special issue
dedicated to C. West Churchman begins with an invited introduction by Kristo
Ivanov. Invanov is, by his own admission, a student and proponent of C.
West Churchman and the systems approach. Churchman has had a profound effect
on Ivanov, and his European contemporaries, in teaching and the practice
of operations research, management science, information systems and philosophical
thinking.
In the second paper
Jaana Porra synthesizes the material she obtained via a series of interviews
with Churchman and from an ethics seminar given by Churchman. The picture
she paints of Churchman's psyche is poignant and provocative. The breadth
and depth of Churchman's insight into the state-of-the-world are truly
global and decidedly human-centric.
John Haynes discusses
the interdependence between Churchman’s Hegelian system and what is referred
to as Perspectival Thinking. The thesis of his argument is that Perspectival
thinking--where we see things from the point-of-view of taking a perspective
and where the concept of ourselves is crucial-- is necessary for instilling
a learning culture. The watchword is think locally, act locally, and be
aware of our global intuitions.
“Questions and
Information: Contrasting Metaphors” by Thomas Lauer discusses the importance
of metaphors in developing information systems. The metaphor provides an
important catalyst in asking the right questions and in developing the
foundations of a knowledge management system. One must be careful, however,
in selecting a metaphor because the metaphor can lead to inappropriate
conceptualization of the way information is used. Churchman’s five models
of inquiring systems (Liebnizean, Lockean, Kantian, Hegelian, and Singerian)
are used as the basis for developing a question-centric approach to developing
information systems.
Richardson, Courtney
and Paradice examine Churchman’s Singerian approach for designing systems
in the context of two organizations. They note that the Singerian model
is applicable in high tech, e-business, and similar environments, where
creativeness is essential and risk taking is the norm. They describe two
organizations with a Singerian profile that have had success in applying
Singerian principles.
The paper by Alexander
Hars investigates the development of a class diagram model for representing
scientific knowledge that is based on epistemology. He starts by developing
class diagrams for the epistemologies of Popper, Nagel, Dubin and Bunge
and then develops a synthesized, meta-model, for representing scientific
knowledge.
Heinz Klein and
Rudy Hirschheim argue that design and development choices are moral value
judgments involving competing ideals. They propose a structure and set
of rules that can be used as the basis for reasoning about and resolving
design conflict. A primary objective of their approach is to create an
environmental forum that fosters open debate about corporate values and
organizational systems.
Cathal Brugha draws
on Oriental and Western philosophy to develop a series of recommendation
for improving the SDLC. In his paper he illustrates that the SDLC is a
dialectical dynamic involving Convincing and Commitment and that Adjustment
is a central activity of the process.
The manuscript
by Garrity describes a development approach, based on general systems theory
that synthesizes American and European design approaches. The approach,
EASE (European/American Stuctured Environment), couples process centering
with quality of worklife structures and measurement.
The paper by Miranda
Mowbray is a provocative examination of the freedom of speech in virtual
communities. Mowbray presents philosophical and political arguments as
to why there are limits to free speech and presents a series of guidelines
for administrators of virtual communities.
In closing we would
like to leave you with a couple of excerpts from Porra's dialogue with
C. West Churchman.
“On
the broadest level, the systems approach belongs to a whole class of approaches
to managing and planning our human affairs with the intent that we as a
living species conduct ourselves properly in this world."
“...I’ll
give you my theory of information (system)...What difference does it [information
(system)] make in the pursuit of an objective [good and kindness] and what
difference does it make in your actions toward this objective [good and
kindness]. That’s the paradigmatic definition. If it [information] reduces
the probability of attaining the objective [good and kindness], then it
is negative information. If it increases it, then it is positive. You can
begin to measure the amount of information by the decreased probability
of attaining your objective [good and kind], and if it does nothing, it’s
irrelevant…. [Porra, A Dialogue with C. West Churchman]."
Finally we would
like to thank Professor Churchman for his role as advisory editor for this
special issue of Information Systems Frontiers.
James F. Courtney
G. Lawrence Sanders
Special thanks are extended to the following referees for their assistance in assembling this issue: