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In the Beginning Was Chiasmus: On the Epistemology of Non-quantified Modelling
Series: - Value Inquiry Book Series, Volume: 424
Author:
Chiastic order is an ancient expression for cross-classification. As such, it is the primordial form of non-quantified modelling and combinatory heuristics. This book presents an epistemological history of non-quantified modelling: its prehistory in the form of rhetorical and epistemic chiasmus; its early (pre-symbolic) use by Plato as a cross-order (paradigmatic) modelling method; its prototype development by Ramon Llull as a heuristic ars combinatoria; its “modern” use by Gottfried Leibniz based on a calculus of concepts; and Fritz Zwicky’s 20th-century promotion of the “morphological approach”. Examples of contemporary computer-aided combinatorial modelling are presented in the areas of operational research, policy analysis, scenario development and design theory.
Tom Ritchey is former Research Director of the Institution for Technology Foresight and Assessment in Stockholm. He is a modelling theorist with a background in operational research, decision theory and the history and philosophy of science.
Contents
List of Figures and Tables
Introduction: The Science of Cross-Classification
part 1
Epistemological History
1 In the Beginning Was X: From Rhetorical to Epistemic Chiasmus
2 The Chiastic “Square of Classification”
3 Plato, Cross-Division and the Genesis of Modelling Theory
4 Ramon Llull and the Combinatorial Art
5 Gottfried Leibniz and Constraint-Based Combinatorial Modelling
6 Fritz Zwicky and the Morphological Approach
part 2
Modern Theory and Applications
7 Computer-Aided Morphological Modelling
8 Areas of Application and Case Studies
Bibliography
Notes
Index
List of Figures and Tables
Introduction: The Science of Cross-Classification
part 1
Epistemological History
1 In the Beginning Was X: From Rhetorical to Epistemic Chiasmus
2 The Chiastic “Square of Classification”
3 Plato, Cross-Division and the Genesis of Modelling Theory
4 Ramon Llull and the Combinatorial Art
5 Gottfried Leibniz and Constraint-Based Combinatorial Modelling
6 Fritz Zwicky and the Morphological Approach
part 2
Modern Theory and Applications
7 Computer-Aided Morphological Modelling
8 Areas of Application and Case Studies
Bibliography
Notes
Index
This book is of interest to classical scholars, historians of science and philosophy, operational researchers and decision scientists, design theorists/organisational design, social scientists and policy analysts, business modellers as well as those interested in futures and foresight studies.