SySc 421 Systems Philosophy

A study of ideas central to systems theory and philosophy. The course focuses on concepts rather than mathematics, and organizes systems ideas around the theme of the fundamental "difficulties" (problems, imperfections, modes of failure) encountered by systems of widely differing types. Though these systems ideas often come from the natural sciences and engineering, they are significant also for the social sciences, the professional fields, and even the arts and humanities. Also offered for graduate-level credit as SySc 521 and may be taken only once for credit.