Chelsea Clinton

Philosophy and Culture, with Russell Ackoff

by Josephine Acosta-Pasricha, Ph. D.

This is a paper read for the UNESCO World Philosophy Day in the presence of Ambassador Preciosa Soliven, UNESCO secretary general from the Philippines, and 80 philosophy professors. It recommends a rethinking of philosophy also as applied philosophy, and reframing philosophy with Systems Thinking, within the context of global studies, cultural studies, change and development, even health care and sustainable ecology."The Endarkenment of Thomas Aquinas' Feminism through the Lens of Systems Thinking" , a paper that interfaces Integral Feminism with Systems Thinking, Change Management and Transformational Leadership by Josephine Acosta Pasricha, has also been read at the UST Quadricentennial International Philosophy Congress at the University of Santo Tomas, May 23-26 2011. The congress of 120 papers was participated in by 43 universities, colleges and seminaries in 26 countries. The paper also analyzes as applied philosophy the controversial Reproductive Health Bill.

Russell L. Ackoff, Ph.D. Systems Thinker

Pure Philosophy -- like Metaphysics that is concerned with the ultimate structure of reality, and Epistemology that is concerned with the nature of knowledge -- has already reached its peak.

This is true even of Feminist epistemology, which studies the human experience as more than just a male experience, the latest trend in Post-Structuralism.

Thus, I believe that the teaching, research and practice of philosophy has to be more than retrospective analysis and criticism of texts, and should engage in more independent thought and action, and innovative exploratory activities.

Pure Philosophy cannot remain as text but has to be Applied Philosophy to be creative and innovative, relevant and necessary. Philosophy has to be contextualized and intertextualized with the vitality and diversity in Culture.

Today is the Age of Culture. The knowledge and understanding of philosophy must take into account the mechanisms of culture -- social, political and psychological systems.

Russell Ackoff, Ph. D. in Philosophy of Science, teaches the practical importance of viewing schools and other kinds of organizations as social systems (Russell Ackoff and W Edwards Deming, A Theory of a System for Educators and Managers, 2000). Dr. Ackoff thinks that the need to understand a system applies to education and business -- indeed, to any organization.

Of course, you would say, this is not new. The classical Greek philosophers, Plato and Aristotle, have come up with the ideas of systems. Aristotle says that the parts of the body make sense in the way they function and support the whole organism; in the same manner individuals should also relate this way to the State. Plato applies the art of steermanship or kybernetes both to vessels and the ship of State. Ships are steered to safety towards a harbour by a captain, as the ship of State can be steered to safety by a great political leader. (Michael C. Jackson, Systems Thinking, 2003, 2008)

Today is the Age of Systems. The Machine Age, as bequeathed by the Industrial Revolution to us, has already ended and gone, and we are now in the onset of the Systems Age.

System means an interconnected set of elements that is coherently organized in a way that achieves something. It consists of three components elements, interconnections and a function or purpose. (Meadows, Donella H., Thinking in Systems, 2008)

According to Russell Ackoff, Ph. D. in Philosophy of Science, "the beginning of the end of the Machine Age and the beginning of the Systems Age could be dated to the 1940s, a decade when philosophers, mathematicians, and biologists, building on developments in the interwar period, defined a new intellectual framework. (2000) Ackoff says that about the time of the Second World War, the Machine Age associated with the Industrial Revolution began to give way to the Systems Age. (C.f. Jackson, 2008)

Jackson agrees with Ackoff that the Systems Age is characterized by increasingly rapid change, interdependence and complex purposeful systems. The Systems Age demands much greater emphasis on learning and adaptation to achieve stability. The Systems Age requires a radical reorientation of a world view or a mind construct. (2008)

Analytic Philosophy that applies logic to languages, and studies logical rules that govern statements of truth, has already contributed its share of originality and innovation since the nineteenth century. The reaction and/or response to Analytic Thinking is Systems Thinking.

Ackoff differentiates between conventional thinking and Systems Thinking.

Ackoff believes that an understanding of the difference between analysis and synthesis is crucial for an introduction to the theory of system. Ackoff explains that analysis has been the dominant mode of thought in the Western world for 400 years. Analysis explains how the pieces of a system work. Synthesis is needed to understand the why of a system, and the interactions between its parts as they work together.

For example, Ackoff says, that understanding the organization as a system leads to the conclusion that cooperation is more effective than internal competition in leading any purposeful organization whether it be the university, business or government to work more effectively.

Machine Age thinking is based on analysis reductionism, a search for cause and effect relations, and determinism.

On the other hand, Systems Age thinking proceeds by synthesis and expansionism, grasping the producer and production relations, admitting to the existence of free will and choice.

Systems Thinking principles, for clarity and conciseness, is summarized as follows by Meadows:

1. A system is more than the sum of its parts.

2. Many of the interconnections in systems operate through the flow of information.

3. The least obvious part of the system, its function or purpose is often the most crucial determinant of the systems behaviour.

Vital to the understanding of why organizational health depends on the new way of Systems Thinking is also the difference between growth and development.

Dr. Ackoff says:

The appropriate end of a social system is development, not growth. Our society doesnt yet understand the distinction between them. You can develop without growing, and you can grow without developing. A rubbish heap grows; it doesnt develop. (2000)

An organization can grow and not develop, like a university can grow with more students and faculty members and perhaps profits. But at the same time, the university may not develop because the needs of the students and faculty are left unmet.

Growth is quantitative, while development is qualitative. Growth is measured in terms of bottom line profits, while development is measured in self-development.

It is no longer just the bottom line in business and trade, or the stock exchange, that make a country or government or organization move forward.

I would like to recommend to the UNESCO World Philosophy Day that the teaching of philosophy be also reframed according to the Philosophy of Systems Thinking.

Systems Thinking has been taught by Dr. Russell Ackoff, Anheuser-Busch professor Emeritus in Management Sciences at Wharton School, where he specialized in systems planning, research and design, specially interactive planning.