In today’s post, I will explore Systems Thinking from a pragmatist viewpoint. I will draw on the ideas of the great American pioneer pragmatist philosopher, C. S. Peirce and the pragmatist systems thinker, Charles West Churchman.

Pragmatism can be viewed as a push against the idea that there are fundamental, unchanging “Truths”. Pragmatism emphasizes experience and observable consequences rather than abstract notions of certainty. There is a hint of utilitarianism in pragmatism in that both philosophies prioritize practical outcomes and the consequences of actions as measures of value. Perhaps, one of the attractive notions in pragmatism is the idea of fallibilism, the view that any claim to knowledge could be mistaken and therefore, we need a means for error correction. This is mostly achieved in the form of social consensus. In this regard, pragmatism also supports the idea of pluralism, the recognition that there may be multiple valid ways of seeing a phenomenon or approaching a phenomenon.

As Philip Campbell noted ^[1]:

Pragmatism is the proposal that the value and meaning of any concept is the set of its possible effects… If a concept has no possible effects, then it has no value and no meaning. If two concepts have the same set of possible effects, then the two concepts are the same… Pragmatism is utilitarianism with long-range goals.

This idea brings up a core maxim in pragmatism that is attributed to Peirce. This is called the “pragmatic maxim”. The maxim basically states that to further our understanding of a concept or a thing, we need to also understand the practical consequences to us of that concept or thing. Peirce noted in 1878 essay, “How to Make Our Ideas Clear?” ^[2]:

If one can define accurately all the conceivable experimental phenomena which the affirmation or denial of a concept could imply, one will have therein a complete definition of the concept, and there is absolutely nothing more in it.

In that essay, Peirce presented three grades of clarity for a concept. Loosely put, they are in the increasing order:

• The user has a general familiarity with the concept.
• The user can provide a working definition for the concept.
• The user knows the conceivable practical effects of the concept.

The last step focuses on the pragmatic maxim. Peirce argued that to fully understand an idea, we must examine what experiences or actions it would lead to if it were true. Peirce gave the example of the concept of hardness to explain this. We have a general understanding that a rock is hard, while a pillow is not hard (soft). This allows us to define hardness as the ability to withstand deformation. Therefore, we realize that a hard object resists deformation and can be used to deform relatively softer objects.

Peirce’s maxim teaches us that understanding a concept is not fully developed until we grasp its practical consequences and how it influences our interactions and expectations in the world. In other words, the meaning of an idea is linked to its practical effects. In social contexts, this introduces the notion of pluralism. Different individuals can interpret a concept based on their unique perspectives and worldviews, all of which can be valid. In this sense, knowledge becomes provisional and always evolving. Pragmatism encourages epistemic humility, as well as continuous inquiry and revision of beliefs. Truth is multifaceted and shaped by multiple contexts and practical consequences. This represents a soft view on the complexities of truth rather than a dogmatic hard view.

With this background, let us look at the idea of a system. A “system” is generally construed as a collection of interconnected parts working together to represent a whole. This leads to the common notion that systems are real and present everywhere and can be fixed or changed to achieve a desired outcome. This type of thinking is based on faulty pretense that whole system can be modeled accurately to represent the complex situation. They might argue that the outcomes of the systems can be designed, and their view is the accurate representation. As David Matthews wrote ^[3]:

Undoubtedly, the early systems theorists were uncritically committed to both foundationalism and representationalism. They aimed to produce models that corresponded with reality (representationalism) and, moreover, assumed that it was feasible to justify the outcomes of their studies by claiming to always model the ‘whole system’ (foundationalism).

It is here that we can introduce Charles West Churchman. At heart, Churchman was a pragmatist who challenged the notion of the hard systems approach. He did not see that the boundaries of a system are given by the structure of reality in favor of a pragmatic understanding that what is ‘given’ and what is ‘constructed’ are irreducibly intertwined. The system became a constructed notion to represent a phenomenon based on multiple perspectives and value systems. Matthews continued:

Accordingly, traditional distinctions between subject and object (and for that matter ontology and epistemology) are undone and boundary definition becomes an issue not of systems modelling but of practical philosophy. That is, it becomes an ethical issue. Something that appears to be an improvement from a narrow point of view may not be seen as such if the boundaries are extended or arranged in a different way. According to Churchman, systems approaches too often have us analyze ‘the problem’ as if it represented the total system.

Multiple perspectives stem from the pluralistic approach in pragmatism. This means there is not one representation of what a system means; the meaning can change depending on who the participant is. This highlights the importance of ethics in systems thinking. My narrow view of what a system should do and what the outcomes should be may not align with another participant’s perspective. For example, what a transportation system means to a train driver can differ significantly from what it means to a passenger. Each participant has their own perspectives and cultural nuances that can drastically affect practical consequences. To understand what the system is, we must consider these different perspectives. Churchman’s famous maxim states that a systems approach begins when first you see the world through the eyes of another.

Churchman also teaches us that if we come to view our own version of system as the correct one, we are deceiving ourselves. We may not be aware of our cognitive biases and other blind spots. He wrote, the ultimate meaning of the systems approach, therefore, lies in the creation of a theory of deception and in a fuller understanding of the ways in which the human being can be deceived about his world.

His systems approach was rooted in pragmatism. He advocated listening to our ‘enemies’ so that we can challenge our own assumptions. Matthews noted that he suggested pitting alternative options (based on alternative a priori metaphysical assumptions) against each other. By listening to the arguments of our ‘enemies’ we become aware of the assumptions in our own thinking and both are better for it.

Churchman’s Social System Design aimed at ‘surfacing’ the implicit worldviews (a priori assumptions) of the systems designer and/or decision maker. Once these assumptions are brought to the surface an alternative set of assumptions are developed. From this alternative set, different proposals (courses of action, decisions, systems designs etc.) are derived that, because of their different foundational assumptions, challenged the former ones. The aim is to develop a more critical understanding of the complex problem (or system) by seeing aspects of the problem that would have remained hidden by the uncritical implementation of policy founded on a single worldview.

In my view, the core maxim of systems thinking is same as the pragmatic maxim. To understand the system, we should grasp its practical consequences. In social contexts, there are multiple participants and, therefore, multiple perspectives on what the system is and what they desire from it. What a system does is emergent and contextually dependent. We should not seek to optimize without first understanding the pluralistic nature of the system and its practical consequences.

I will end with a quote from one of Churchman’s students, Werner Ulrich:

It is not the reality ‘out there’ that determines the boundary between the system and the environment, but rather the inquirers standpoint, the purpose of his mapping effort, his personal preconceptions of the reality to be mapped and the values he associates with it.

Always keep on learning…

[1] Peirce, Pragmatism, and The Right Way of Thinking, Philip L. Campbell, Sandia Report

[2] How to Make Our Ideas Clear?, Charles Sanders Peirce

[3] Pragmatism Meets Systems Thinking: The Legacy of C. West Churchman, David Matthews