A �� A �� Bogdanov's "systems Thinking" Study

A.A.Bogdanov(Malinovsky, 1873—1928) was a great natural scientist,philosopher, social scientist, economist, political activist and literary man at the endof 19th Century and the beginning of 20th Century. Due to his encyclopedicbackground, he achieved many special and striking points of views not only in naturalsciences, but also in philosophical and social fields, therefore, the studies of histhought will be of great theoretical and realistic significance. Through the detaileddiscussion of his main thought, this dissertation probes into the "system thinking" ofBogdanov. Based on his two masterpieces Empirical Monism and Tectology, thisdissertation has a coordinate structure with the temporal order of his thoughtevolution as the upright line, and the thought of unity in different fields as the levelline, thus gaining the core of his system thinking completely and profoundly. I hopethis dissertation can introduce the system thinking of Bogdanov to the systemresearchers in China, which would benefit the contemporary development of systemsscience in China. Meanwhile, I also hope to clarify some misunderstanding of histhought due to the historical factors.The methods of the discussion in this dissertation include: firstly, rereading andre-analyzing the classical literature. This dissertation is based on the two books byA.A.Bogdanov, therefore, after the close reading of original Russian versions of thetwo books I have formed the theoretical analysis and framework of my own; secondly,the method of comparison and contrast. On the basis of the reexamination, I have alsocompared and contrasted his thought with those of others, to prove the consistencyand coherence of his thought; thirdly, the method of the combination of evidence andcounterevidence. This dissertation not only gives a logical construction of the pointsof views of A.A.Bogdanov, which is an evidence for his points of views, but alsoplaces his theories into the historical background to examine their limitations, andlook for their extended application. After the studies, I have made clear the inner links between empirical monismand tectology, and examined many aspects of the system thinking of A.A.Bogdanov,such as its concepts, mechanisms and methods. The basic framework of his thoughthas also been achieved. (see table 2 of Chapter Three). I conclude that his thought isuniversal to a certain extent, and also fit for his original guesses. Some of his initialthoughts even go beyond the limit of the then sciences, and are still of guiding andinspiring significances in various fields up to now.Through the studies and analyses, I hope to make some breakthroughs in thefollowing aspects: first, extending the understanding of the concept of "organization"in the system thinking of A.A.Bogdanov, and probing further into the philosophicalorigin of his theory; second, a complete synthesis of his views, to provide richmaterials and views for Chinese systems scientists to get the knowledge of the historyof this subject; third, providing reference for the transformation of thinking patternsin this period of historical transformation through the studies of the thought ofA.A.Bogdanov.