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The modern dilemma and the challenge to systems thinkers
Author(s) -
Jackson Wes
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
systems research and behavioral science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.371
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1099-1743
pISSN - 1092-7026
DOI - 10.1002/sres.496
Subject(s) - dialectic , argument (complex analysis) , dilemma , reductionism , livelihood , epistemology , environmental ethics , population , positive economics , law and economics , economics , sociology , neoclassical economics , political science , philosophy , history , chemistry , biochemistry , demography , archaeology , agriculture
In a world with an exploding human population and declining non‐renewable resources, three kinds of intellectuals weigh in as inquirers into the human prospect. Two agree that the European–North American–Japanese path of development cannot be sustained. The third scholar studiously avoids being drawn into the discussion as he advances a recipe for right livelihood, which ignores economic considerations by advancing a moral argument. Systems thinking, a form of reductionism, it is argued, must remain subordinate to a dialectical approach to solving our problems. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.