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# The History and Status of General Systems Theory

## Details

**Authors** Bertalanffy

**Year** 1972

**Publisher** Academy of Management Journal

**Discipline** Philosophy

[Read it at the publisher](https://doi.org/10.5465/255139) 
10.5465/255139

## In authors' words

### What they set out to do (purpose)

To study the historical significance and status of the General Systems Theory.

### What they found (results)

Aristotle's statement, “The whole is more than the sum of its parts,” is a definition of the basic system problem which is still valid. Then the “Gailean conception,” which moved the world towards believing that the cosmos directed fate and decisions to viewing events as the result of reasonable, mathematical laws. Descartes bete machine and Darwinian natural selection were the two ideas that helped deal with the problem of order. In relation to the part and the whole aspect of a system, he writes, “Hence an object (and in particular a system) is definable only by its cohesion in a broad sense, that is, the interactions of the component elements.”

## Commentary

### In short

This paper highlights the importance of recognizing the parts, the whole, and the relationships between the parts.

### In more detail

Bertalanffy (1972) studied the historical significance and status of the General Systems Theory (GST). He discussed one of the first assertions made about Systems. “Aristotle's statement, “The whole is more than the sum of its parts,” is a definition of the basic system problem which is still valid.” He goes on to discuss the “Gailean conception,” which moved the world towards believing that the cosmos directed fate and decisions to viewing events as the result of reasonable, mathematical laws. Bertalanffy cited Descartes bete machine and Darwinian natural selection as the two ideas that helped deal with the problem of order within Systems theory. In relation to the part and the whole aspect of a system, he writes, “Hence an object (and in particular a system) is definable only by its cohesion in a broad sense, that is, the interactions of the component elements.” This paper highlights the importance of recognizing the parts, the whole, and the relationships between the parts.

**Patterns it shows** S

**How to cite this** Bertalanffy (1972). The History and Status of General Systems Theory. Academy of Management Journal.