Abstract

BECERRA, Gastón. Complex Systems Theory and Social Systems Theory in the controversies of complexity. Convergencia [online]. 2020, vol.27, e12148.  Epub May 29, 2020. ISSN 2448-5799.  https://doi.org/10.29101/crcs.v27i83.12148.

The irruption of complexity in the 1970’s and 1980’s motivated a certain diagnosis of crisis as regards science and scientific knowledge. Clarifying the scope of this diagnosis is key to understand the meaning acquired by “complexity” in two particular programs: the Theory of Complex Systems (TSC) by Rolando García, and the Theory of Social Systems (TSS) by Niklas Luhmann. To advance on this goal, we propose a counterpoint on 3 particular problems — the scope of explanations and scientific predictions, interdisciplinarity, and the social and transforming nature of knowledge— which we address with each program’s metatheoretical characteristics and epistemological assumptions. We conclude by advocating an interpretation of TSC in which a more moderate position is observed than that in TSS in the controversy of complexity.

Keywords : complex systems; social systems; complexity; Niklas Luhmann; Rolando García.

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