Complexity and the Philosophy of Becoming

Abstract

Abstract:ming in system theoretic framework and proposes an alternative ontological foundation to the study of systems and complex systems in particular. A brief critique of system theory and difficulties apparent in it is proposed as an initial motivation to the discussion. Following is an overview aiming to provide an access to the --difference, virtuality, multiplicity, assemblages, quasi--causation, becoming (individuation), intensity and radical departure from the dogma of western philosophy that guides the foundations of science and system theory. It replaces identity with difference and being with becoming, in other words, it provides system theory with an ontological ground based on change, heterogeneity and inexhaustible novelty--producing process that underlies all phenomena. The conceptual tools made available by this philosophy seem to capture the fundamental aspects of complexity and complex systems much better than the current conceptual system that is based on static transcendental ontological entities.

From nouns to verbs: How process ontologies enhance our understanding of social‐ecological systems understood as complex adaptive systems

“…Process thinkers put forward a worldview where constant flux and dynamism dominate. For the purposes of this paper, we focus on the work of Alfred North Whitehead (, , ), which we take as the founding father of the contemporary approach to process ontologies, and we also present some works by James (), Deleuze (, , ) and Deleuze and Guattari (, ) together with some of their readers such as Stengers () and Weinbaum (). Of course, there are many more and we invite the reader to consult Rescher's (, ) or DeLanda's (, ) work for an overview of contemporary process thought.…”

“…Nicholson & Dupré, ), anthropology (De la Cadena, ), human geography (e.g. Stark, ), sustainability research (Cooke et al, ; Kaaronen, ) and the study of complex systems in general (Weinbaum, ). These ontologies see the world as composed of interdependent processes, constituted by their relations with many other processes.…”

Deleuze and becoming-citizen: Exploring newcomer films in a Franco-Canadian secondary school

“…becoming). Exploring the interrelationships between elements of the world and the ways they participate in expressions of existence are more important than specific or isolated representations and identifications (Deleuze and Guattari 1987;Sandvik 2010;Weinbaum 2011). According to Deleuze and Guattari (1987), existence is made of the actual, the virtual and the intensive.…”

“…The virtual is the space that takes on the appearance of the actual and includes patterns of becoming. The intensive is between the actual and the virtual and involves processes of the production of actualizations that are guided by virtual patterns (Weinbaum 2011).…”

“…Within such a perspective, the concept of agencement is considered as conglomerations of multiplicities that include the forces, flows and intensities that affect their constitutive elements (Weinbaum 2011). According to Deleuze and Guattari (1987), an agencement comprises two axes.…”