Handbook of Semiotics

System

System The concept of system most generally implies the idea ofelements forming an ordered whole. The relations among these elements form the structure of the system. The elements may have common features, but their systemic character appears only in their function within the system. Etymologically, the word system refers to somewhat less coherent entities. Gr. sJstema (aua'tllJ.1a) means 'that which is put together,' 'a composite whole,' 'an assembly.' Most scholars agree that sign systems are the major object of semiotic research. While the systemic character of language is generally acknowledged , there is less agreement about texts and nonlinguistic phenomena being systems . Terminologically, the concept of (Sign) system is often not clearly differentiated from the concepts of structure and code. 1. General Characteristics of Systems General characteristics of systems have been studied in the theory of science and especially in the interdisciplinary research of systems theory (cf. Bertalanffy 1968, Laszlo 1972, Noth 1989). The definition ofsystem has to be specified particularly in relation to the concept of 198 • SYSTEM structure. The complexity of systems increases as systems theoretical research is extended from physical to biological, sociological, and even metaphysical systems. 1.1 Definition of System An attempt to reduce the characteristics of a system to a minimum of features has been made in the mathematical theory of sets. But this definition neglects the important feature of wholeness which has been elaborated within the framework of gestalt psychology. 1.1.1 ELEMENTS, RELATIONS, AND STRUCTURES One of the most frequently quoted definitions of systems was proposed by Hall &: Fagen: "A system is a set ofobjects together with relationships between the objects and between their attributes" (1956: 18). In pure terms of the theory of sets, Klaus gives an even more reduced characterization of the minimal features of a system. In his definition, a system is a "set of elements and [the] set of relations existing between these elements" (1969: 634). If structure is defined as "the set of relations connecting the elements of a system," the only distinguishing criterion between system and structure is "the set of elements," which is part of a system but not of a structure. 1.1.2 WHOLENESS AND ORDER Both system and structure are characterized by the feature of unity or wholeness (cf. Strombach 1983). This characteristic evidently escapes the possibilities of a set theoretic formalization. At most, it is referred to as one of the "relations existing between the elements" in the set theoretic definition. The concept of wholeness was elaborated within the framework of gestalt psychology in opposition to atomistic and mechanistic views of the sciences. Wholeness is that relation which makes a system "more than the sum of its elements." But this structural "more" cannot be derived from the elements . The holistic approach postulates an analysis which has to consider the level of wholeness in order to determine the elements and their function within the structure. This principle can be illustrated with a simple example from linguistics, where it has always been acknowledged in practice: A sentence ('the whole') is more than the sum of its lexemes ('the elements'). Its structure (such as subject + predicate) cannot be determined from the lexical information alone. The negative characterization of systems by 'the impossibility of reducing its wholeness to the sum of its elements' is avoided when the unity of a system is described as its permanence in dynamic change. This criterion appears in Laszlo's definition of order, a concept closely related to that ofwholeness: "Order in a system refers to the invariance that underlies transformations of state, and by means of which the system's structure can be identified" (1983: 28). 1.2 Complex Systems and Their Typology With the increasing complexity of systems, further features appear, from which a typology of systems (cf. Boulding 1968, Laszlo 1972: 36ff.) can be derived. 1.2.1 STATIC AND DYNAMIC SYSTEMS Static systems occur in the world of objects in material structures that are relatively resistant to change, e.g., in crystals or in technical constructions . An example of a conceptual static system is Linnaeus's taxonomy ofplants. Static systems are stable and in equilibrium. The stability of a system is its capacity to keep its variables unchanged within defined limits. The state of a system in which its variables remain unchanged by any perturbation is called equilibrium . A good steel construction has a stable equilibrium. Children's building-block constructions usually have an unstable equilibrium . In dynamic systems, the structure changes with time...