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We regard the following concepts as utterly fundamental to,
inseparable within, and inextricably interrelated in any system of thought
which can be described as "cybernetic". As (current) foundations they can
be described, but not defined in terms of other concepts. As such they are
essentially and necessarily undefined. While these three concepts form the
(current) foundation for Metasystem Transition Theory, the following subsections detail
fundamental concepts which follow directly from these.
Actions
Actions are the fundamentals of reality in Metasystem Transition Theory. Our
philosophy is process oriented, where change and evolution are emphasized
over objects, entities, and static properties. This is fundamentally in
keeping with other process philosophies \cite{WHA29} and much of cybernetic
theory \cite{?} (see section metaphysics).
Distinctions
We use the concept of the distinction as the fundamental nominal notion, as the generator of all separateness, differentiation, of
all categories and dimensions, indeed of all knowledge.
Of course this concept has a long and venerable history not only in general
philosophy, but particularly in Cybernetics and Systems Science. Distinctions are recognized as
fundamental by Bateson \cite{BAG72c,BAG72e}, and were developed into an
elegant (if usually misunderstood) formal language of systems by
Spencer-Brown and others \cite{GOJVAF79,SPG,VAF75} \both{I need a ref for
S-Brown}.
Distinct categories are necessary for all communication and for all
information theory, if not all mathematics. Furthermore, the distinction between discrete distinctions and continuous differences is a
perennial issue in all Cybernetics and Systems Science. More recently, Heylighen has developed a
detailed theory of causality and action in terms of distinctions
\cite{HEF89b,HEF90d} which informs a great deal of Metasystem Transition Theory.
Subject
The subject of Metasystem Transition Theory, what Metasystem Transition Theory is about, is general
philosophy from a cybernetic perspective. But Metasystem Transition Theory itself is also an object, i.e. a linguistic construction almost entirely in the English
language. As such, both Principia Cybernetica and Metasystem Transition Theory must be always recognized as
existing relative to that interpretive framework.
But in the same way, all constructions of the human mind, indeed all
systems, are relativized to and embedded within particular interpretive
perspectives. We call the presence of such a perspective the presence of
the subject. The involvement of an explicit subject in all aspects of
Metasystem Transition Theory draws our attention to the level-relativity of theory and
explanation, and the inside/outside distinctions such as
system/environment.
The inside and outside are complementary, irreducible perspectives.
Everything viewed from the inside (subjective) looks and is described
differently from the outside (objective). From the inside perspective the
subject appears as God, nature, or chance; from the outside perspective
(when it is available to us) the subject appears as a willing agent. In
physics, the subject is called the observer, and the result is
quantum complementarity. In Turchin's formal theory \cite{TUV87a}, the
subject is called the user of the cybernetic machine.
