Abstract
Two very different methods or philosophies are followed in scientific studies. One is mechanistic, reductionist and analytical, the other is teleological, holistic and synthetic. This latter is now generally described as the systems approach. The former is the one most readily understood; it has been used widely and has proved to be extremely successful in the physical sciences and engineering. The general idea is that the investigator will understand things better if he takes them apart either physically or conceptually. He analyses what happens, reduces a great variety of objects or phenomena to the smallest possible number of universal components or elements, and constructs explanations in terms of the combinations and interactions of these elements. The distinction between a teleological and a mechanistic explanation is lucidly explained by Russell (1946). ‘When we ask “why?” concerning an event, we may mean either of two things. We may mean: “what purpose did this event serve?” or we may mean: “what earlier circumstances caused this event?” The answer to the former question is a teleological explanation, or an explanation by final causes; the answer to the latter question is a mechanistic explanation.’
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Singleton, W.T. (1981). Systems Theory and Skill Theory. In: Singleton, W.T. (eds) Management Skills. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-9476-4_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-9476-4_2
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