Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Complex Systems and the Evolution of Human Society

  • Chapter
Thinking in Complexity

  • 112 Accesses

Abstract

How can one explain the emergence of political, social, and economic order in human societies? The chapter starts with a short history of political and economical systems since classical antiquity. The historical ideas of political and economical order were often illustrated by technical, physical, or biological concepts of their corresponding period. In the 17th century, Thomas Hobbes tried to transfer Galilean and Cartesian laws of movement from mechanics to anthropology and state theory. The physiocrates modeled the economic system of an absolutist state like a mechanistic 18th-century clockwork (Sect. 6.1). The liberal ideas of Locke, Hume, and Smith were designed against the historical background from Newton’s physics. Until recent years, mainstream economics has often been inspired by models from linear mathematics, classical mechanics, thermodynamics of thermal equilibrium and sometimes the Darwinian theory of evolution. Like many physicists, economists believed in the exact computability of their (linear) models and suppressed the possibility of a “butterfly effect” leading to chaos and excluding economic forcasts in the long run (Sect. 6.2).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 74.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Ehrenberg, V.: Der Staat der Griechen. Zürich ( 1965 ); Meier, C.: Die Entstehung des Politischen bei den Griechen. Frankfurt (1983)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Platonis Opera, 5 vols. Ed. J. Burnet. Oxford (1899–1906) (especially Politeia,Politikos); Cf. Cross, R.C./Woozley, A.D.: Plato’s Republic. A Philosophical Commentary. London (1964)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Aristotle: Ethica Nicomachae, Politica (Oxford Classical Texts); Atheniesium Res Publica. Ed. F.G. Kenyon. Oxford (1920);

    Google Scholar 

  4. Höffe, O.: Praktische Philosophie — Das Model des Aristoteles. München (1971);

    Google Scholar 

  5. Barker, L.E.: The Political Thought of Plato and Aristotle. New York (1959)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Hobbes, T.: The Elements of Law Natural and Politic (1640). Ed. F. Tönnies.London (1889); Leviathan, or the Matter, Form and Power of a Commonwealth, Ecclesiasticial and Civil (1651). Ed. C.B. Macpherson. Harmondsworth (1968);

    Google Scholar 

  7. Gough, J.W.: The Social Contract. A Critical Study of its Development. Oxford (1957);

    Google Scholar 

  8. Höffe, O. (ed.): Thomas Hobbes: Anthropologie und Staatsphilosophie. Freiburg (1981)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Quesnay: Oeuvres économiques et philosophiques. Francfort (1988)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Figure 6.3a shows a “Tableau économique” from the “Elements de la philosophie rurale” (1767) of Marquis of Mirabeau; cf. Meek, R.L.: The interpretation of the “Tableau economique”, Economica 27 (1960) 322–347

    Google Scholar 

  11. Serviere, G. de: Recueil d’ouvrages curieux de mathématique et de méchanique, ou description du cabinet de Monsieur Grollier de Serviere, avec des figures en taille-douce. Seconde édition. Lyon (1733) (Fig. 38); Rieter, H.: Quesnays Tableau Economique als Uhren-Analogie. In: Scherf, H. (ed.): Studien zur Entwicklung der ökonomischen Theorie IX. Duncker and Humblot: Berlin (1990) 73

    Google Scholar 

  12. Locke, J.: Two Treatises on Government (1689). Ed. P. Laslett. Cambridge (1970). Book II: Essay concerning the true original, and end of civil government

    Google Scholar 

  13. Hume, D.: Essays and Treatise on Several Subjects. In two Volumes. I. Containing Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary. A New Edition. London (1784)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Smith, A.: The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759). Ed. D.D. Raphael/A.L. Mac-fie. Oxford (1979)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Cf. Skinner, A.S.: Adam Smith, science and the role of imagination. In: Todd,W.B. (ed.): Hume and the Enlightenment. Edinburgh University Press: Edinburgh (1974) 164–188

    Google Scholar 

  16. Smith, A.: An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. Ed. E. Cannan. The University of Chicago Press: Chicago (1976) vol. 1, 478

    Google Scholar 

  17. Smith, A.: (see Note 12), vol. 1, 18

    Google Scholar 

  18. Mayr, O.: Adam Smith und das Konzept der Regelung. In: Troitzsch/Wohlauf, G. (eds.): Technikgeschichte. Frankfurt (1980) 245

    Google Scholar 

  19. Cf. Marchi, N.B. de: The empirical content and longevity of Ricardian economics. Economica 37 (1970) 258–259;

    Google Scholar 

  20. Sowell, T.: Classical Economics Reconsidered. Princeton University Press: Princeton (1974) 118–120;

    Google Scholar 

  21. Blaug, M.: The Methodology of Economics. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge (1980)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Mill, J.S.: On the definition of political economy. In: Collected Works. Essays on Economy and Society. Ed. J.M. Robson. University of Toronto Press: Toronto (1967) vol. 4, 330;

    Google Scholar 

  23. Hicks, J.: From classical to post-classical: The work of J.S. Mill. In: Hicks, J.: Classics and Moderns. Collected Essays on Economic Theory. Vol. III. Basil Blackwell: Oxford (1983) 60–70

    Google Scholar 

  24. Georgescu-Roegen, N.: The Entropy Law and Economic Progress. Harvard University Press: Cambridge, MA (1971)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Walras, L.: Principe d’une théorie mathématique de l’echange. Journal des Economistes 33 (1874) 1–21;

    Google Scholar 

  26. Hicks, J.: Léon Walras. In: Hicks, J.: (see Note 16 ) 85–95

    Google Scholar 

  27. Keynes, J.M.: The Collected Writings of John Maynard Keynes. Vol. XIV. The General Theory and After. Ed. D. Moggridge. Macmillan: London (1973) 296

    Google Scholar 

  28. Neumann, J. von/Morgenstern, O.: Theory of Games and Economic Behavior. Princeton University Press: Princeton, NJ (1943)

    Google Scholar 

  29. Cf. Stegmüller, W: Probleme und Resultate der Wissenschaftstheorie und Analytischen Philosophie Bd. 1. Springer: Berlin (1969) 391

    Google Scholar 

  30. Cf. Shubik, M. (ed.): Game Theory and Related Approaches to Social Behavior. John Wiley: New York/London/Sidney (1964);

    Google Scholar 

  31. Nash, J.F.: Equilibrium points in n-person games. Proceedings of National Academy of Science (USA) 36 (1950) 48–49

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  MATH  Google Scholar 

  32. For a survey compare Anderson, P.W./Arrow, K.J./Pines, D. (eds.): The Economy as an Evolving Complex System. Santa Fé Institute Studies in the Sciences of Complexity vol. 3. Addison-Wesley: Redwood City (1988);

    Google Scholar 

  33. Barnett, W.A./Geweke, J./Shell, K. (eds.): Economic Complexity. Chaos, Sunspots, Bubbles, and Nonlinearity. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge (1989)

    Google Scholar 

  34. Kalecki, M.: Theory of Economic Dynamics. Unwin University Books: London (1954);

    Google Scholar 

  35. Samuelson, P.A.: Foundations of Economic Analysis. Harvard University Press: Cambridge, MA (1947)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  36. Goodwin, R.M.: Chaotic Economic Dynamics. Clarendon Press: Oxford (1990) 19

    Book  Google Scholar 

  37. Rössler, O.E.: Chaos und Endophysik. In: Mainzer, K./Schirmacher, W. (eds.): Quanten, Chaos und Dämonen. Erkenntnistheoretische Aspekte der modernen Physik. B. I. Wissenschaftsverlag: Mannheim (1993)

    Google Scholar 

  38. Goodwin, R.M.: Chaotic Economic Dynamics (see Note 25) 113

    Google Scholar 

  39. Lorenz, H.-W: Nonlinear Dynamical Economics and Chaotic Motion. Springer: Berlin (1989);

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  40. Goodwin, R.W.: A growth cycle. In: Hunt, E.K./Schwartz, J.G. (eds.): A Critique of Economic Theory. Penguin: Harmondsworth (1969) 442–449

    Google Scholar 

  41. This idea stems back to Samuelson, P.A.: Generalized predator-prey oscillations in ecological and economic equilibrium. In: The Collected Scientific Papers of P.A. Samuelson. Ed. R.C. Merton. Vol III. MIT Press: Cambridge, MA (1972) 487–490

    Google Scholar 

  42. Cf. Lorenz, H.-W: Nonlinear Dynamical Economics and Chaotic Motion. (See Note 27) 157; Goodwin, R.M.: Chaotic Economic Dynamics. (See Note 25 ) 117

    Google Scholar 

  43. Cf.Farmer, J.D./Sidorowich, J.J.: Predicting Chaotic Time Series. Mineo: Los Alamos National Laboratory (1987)

    Google Scholar 

  44. In his “History of Economical Analysis”, J.A. Schumpeter had already discussed the possibility of multiple equilibrium points. But like Poincaré in the physical sciences, he was afraid of chaotic scenarios in economics: Schumpeter, J.A.: Geschichte der ökonomischen Analyse. Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht: Göttingen (1965)

    Google Scholar 

  45. Arthur, W.B.: Positive feedbacks in the economy. Scientific American, February (1990) 92–99

    Google Scholar 

  46. Arthur, W.B./Ermoliew, J.M./Kaniowski, J.M.: Path-dependent processes and the emergence of macro-structure. European Journal of Operational Research 30 (1987) 294–303;

    Article  Google Scholar 

  47. Helpman, E./Krugman, P.: Market Structure and Foreign Trade. MIT Press: Cambridge, MA (1985)

    Google Scholar 

  48. Flood, R.L.: Complexity: A definition by construction of a conceptual framework. Systems Research 4 (3) (1987) 177–185;

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  49. Flood, R.L./Carson, E.R.: Dealing with Complexity. An Introduction to the Theory and Application of Systems Science. Plenum Press: New York (1988); An early inquiry of complexity in social sciences was written by Hayek, F.A. von: The Theory of Complex Phenomena. J.C.B. Mohr: Tübingen (1972)

    Google Scholar 

  50. For a survey compare Cambel, A.B./Fritsch, B./Keller, J.U. (eds.): Dissipative Strukturen in integrierten Systemen. Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft: Baden-Baden (1989);

    Google Scholar 

  51. Tainter, J.: The Collapse of Complex Societies. Cambridge University Press (1988);

    Google Scholar 

  52. Dumouchel, P./Dupuy, J.-P. (eds.): L’Auto-Organisation de la Physique au Politique. Editions Du Seuil: Paris (1983)

    Google Scholar 

  53. Malthus, T.R.: An Essay on the Principle of Population. London (1798)

    Google Scholar 

  54. Spencer, H.: First Principles. D. Appleton and Co.: New York (1896) 527;

    Google Scholar 

  55. Carneiro, R.L.: Structure, function, and equilibrium in the evolutionism of Herbert Spencer. Journal of Anthropological Research 29 (1973) 77–95

    Google Scholar 

  56. For a review compare, for instance, Carneiro, R.L.: Successive reequilibrations as the mechanism of cultural evolution. In: Schieve, W.C./Allen, P.M. (eds.): Self-Organization and Dissipative Structures. Applications in the Physical and Social Sciences. University of Texas Press: Austin (1982) 110–115

    Google Scholar 

  57. Allen, P.M.: Self-organization in the urban system. In: Schieve, W.C./Allen, P.M.(eds.): Self-Organization and Dissipative Structures. (See Note 39 ) 142–146

    Google Scholar 

  58. Durkheim, E.: De la Division du Travail Social. Paris ( 1893 ); Les Règles de la Méthode Sociologique. Paris (1895)

    Google Scholar 

  59. Weidlich, W: Das Modellierungskonzept der Synergetik für dynamisch sozioökonomische Prozesse. In: Mainzer, K./ Schirmacher, W. (eds.): Quanten, Chaos und Dämonen. (See Note 26) Figs. 6.12–16; Weidlich, W: Stability and cyclicity in social systems. In: Cambel, A.B. Fritsch, B./Keller, J.U. (eds.): Dissipative Strukturen in Integrierten Systemen. (See Note 36 ) 193–222

    Google Scholar 

  60. For a survey compare Scott, W.R.: Organizations: Rational, Natural, and Open Systems. Prentice-Hall: Englewood Cliffs, NJ (1992):

    Google Scholar 

  61. Taylor, M.: The Possibility of Cooperation. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge (1987)

    Google Scholar 

  62. Bott, E.: Urban families: Conjugal roles and social networks. Human Relations 8 (1955) 345–383;

    Article  Google Scholar 

  63. Knipscheer, C.P.M./Antonucci, T.C. (eds.): Social Network Research: Substantive Issues and Methodological Questions. Swets and Zeitlinger: Amsterdam (1990)

    Google Scholar 

  64. Schelling. T.C.: Micromotives and Macrobehavior. W.W. Norton and Co.: New York (1978)

    Google Scholar 

  65. Glance, N.S./Huberman, B.A.; Organizational fluidity and sustainable cooperation, dynamics of computation group: Xerox Palo Alto Research Center: March 12 (1993) (Fig. 3)

    Google Scholar 

  66. See Note 46, Fig. 4

    Google Scholar 

  67. Dawkins, R.: The Selfish Gene. Oxford University Press: New York (1976)

    Google Scholar 

  68. Popper, K.R.: Evolutionary epistemology. In: Miller, D. (ed.): Popper Selections. Princeton University Press: Princeton, NJ (1985) 78–86

    Google Scholar 

  69. Miller, M.S./Drexler, K.E.: Comparative ecology: A computational perspective. In: Huberman, B.A. (ed.): The Ecology of Computation. North-Holland: Amsterdam (1988) 51–76

    Google Scholar 

  70. Compare Luhmann, N.: The self-reproduction of the law and its limits. In: Teubner, G. (ed.): Dilemmas of Law in the Welfare State. Berlin (1986) 111–127;

    Google Scholar 

  71. Mayntz, R.: Differenzierung und Verselbständigung. Zur Entwicklung gesellschaftlicher Teilsysteme. Frankfurt (1988)

    Google Scholar 

  72. Minsky, M.: The Society of Mind. Simon and Schuster: New York (1985) 314

    Google Scholar 

  73. Huberman, B.A. (ed.): The Ecology of Computation. (See Note 50) 81

    Google Scholar 

  74. For a survey compare Kellermayr, K.H.: Lokale Computernetze LAN. Technologische Grundlagen, Architektur, Übersicht und Anwendungsbereiche. Springer: Wien (1986);

    Google Scholar 

  75. Sharp, J.A.: Verteilte und parallele Computernetze. Architektur und Programmierung. VCH-Verlagsgesellschaft: Weinheim (1989);

    Google Scholar 

  76. Barz, H.W.: Kommunikation und Computernetze. Konzepte, Protokolle und Standards. Carl Hanser: München (1991)

    Google Scholar 

  77. Cerf, V.G.: Netztechnik, Spektrum der Wissenschaft Nov. 11 (1991) 76

    Google Scholar 

  78. Minsky, M.: The Society of Mind. (See Note 52)

    Google Scholar 

  79. Hegel, G.W.F.: Phänomenologie des Geistes. (1807) In: Werke in zwanzig Bänden, vol. 3. Suhrkamp: Frankfurt (1972)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lehrstuhl für Philosophie und Wissenschaftstheorie, Universität Augsburg, Universitätsstrasse 10, D-86135, Augsburg, Deutschland

    Professor Dr. Klaus Mainzer

Authors
  1. Professor Dr. Klaus Mainzer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1996 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Mainzer, K. (1996). Complex Systems and the Evolution of Human Society. In: Thinking in Complexity. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-03305-0_6

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-03305-0_6

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-662-03307-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-662-03305-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation