The change of paradigms of system thinking and the anthropic understanding of non-equilibrium sociocultural systems

Abstract

The author attempts to show that V.N. Sadovsky (1934-2012) laid the foundation of a new contemporary phase of systems research which consists in the transition from the first to the second paradigm of system thinking, i.e., from the study of open systems in equilibrium to the analysis of the non-equilibrium and irreversible state of complex systems. He was self-critical enough to recognize that I. Blauberg and E. Yudin had been right in asserting that the main contribution of systems research to science, technology and practice had been the implementation of specific system worldview and system methodology in these areas rather than any attempts made to create a general theory of systems. The paper shows that the anthropic (or rather antroposocietal, that is, combining the methods of social philosophy with those of general sociology) approach he proposes has been developed according to the second paradigm of systems thinking. He applies the said approach to the study of non-equilibrium sociocultural systems (such as the Russian society or its regions) and modernization processes inside them.