Bertalanffy’s so-called “general system theory” (GST) and cybernetics were and are often confused: this calls for clarification. In this article, Bertalanffy’s conceptions and ideas are compared with those developed in cybernetics in order to investigate the differences and convergences. Bertalanffy was concerned with first order cybernetics. Nonetheless, his perspectivist epistemology is also relevant with regard to developments in second order cybernetics, and the latter is therefore also considered to some extent. W. Ross Ashby’s important role as mediator between GST and cybernetics is analysed. The respective basic epistemological approaches, scientific approaches and inherent world views are discussed. We underline the complementarity of cybernetic and “organismic” trends in systems research within the unitary hermeneutical framework of “general systemology”.

中文翻译：

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论路德维希·冯·贝塔朗菲 (Ludwig von Bertalanffy) 的“一般系统学”的历史及其与控制论的关系——第三部分：趋同与发散

Bertalanffy 所谓的“一般系统理论”（GST）和控制论曾经并且经常被混淆：这需要澄清。在本文中，将 Bertalanffy 的概念和思想与控制论中发展的概念和思想进行比较，以研究差异和趋同。Bertalanffy 关注一阶控制论。尽管如此，他的视角主义认识论也与二阶控制论的发展有关，因此在某种程度上也考虑了后者。分析了 W. Ross Ashby 作为 GST 和控制论之间调解人的重要角色。讨论了各自的基本认识论方法、科学方法和固有的世界观。