Synthesis philosophica, Vol. 36 No. 2, 2021.
Preliminary communication
https://doi.org/10.21464/sp36211
The Role of Process Ontology in Cybernetics
Sandro Skansi
; Sveučilište u Zagrebu, Fakultet hrvatskih studija, Borongajska cesta 83d, HR–10000 Zagreb
Kristina Šekrst
orcid.org/0000-0002-0467-7313
; Sveučilište u Zagrebu, Filozofski fakultet, Ivana Lučića 3, HR–10000 Zagreb
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to show the role of process ontology in cybernetics. The philosophical foundations of cybernetics were laid by Norbert Wiener, who used a language full of human-machine metaphors described in terms of information, feedback, and control. We will show that various fields of science still use essentially cybernetic definitions today, which will lead us to a reformulation of such a language from a philosophical point of view: the goal of cybernetics is the study of process analogies. Using the principle of compositionality, we will show how a cyberneticist can easily argue for the ontological sameness of two processes. Such a framework could lead to cybernetics being seen as a fully grounded philosophical theory. As a corollary, we point out that there is a growing need for cybernetics because, thanks to its specific process ontology, it provides a theoretical framework that ontologically bridges dualisms that occur throughout contemporary science.
Keywords
cybernetics; process ontology; analogy; principle of compositionality; dualism
Hrčak ID:
280209
URI
Publication date:
20.1.2022.
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