EFGST – Rational-Understanding.com

Ontological Foundations of General Systems Theory

I’m pleased to share the publication of my latest paper:

Ontological Foundations of General Systems Theory

This paper is the second in a series on General Systems Theory. It sets out a clear, physically grounded framework for understanding reality in systems terms. It brings together concepts of space-time, entities, structure, relationships, causality, and change into a single coherent ontology.

The aim is not to introduce new complexity, but to clarify the foundations on which systems theory rests; providing a consistent basis for analysing systems across physical, biological, and social domains.

The paper is available via the following links:

🔗Academia: https://www.academia.edu/165495501/Ontological_Foundations_of_General_Systems_Theory

🔗Website: https://rational-understanding.com/efgst

Alongside the paper, I have also added a new set of course modules to an existing General Systems Theory (GST) course. These modules correspond to the ontological foundations developed in the paper and are designed to make the concepts accessible through plain-English explanations, diagrams, and practical exercises.

The course materials are available in two ways:

🔗Open access (self-paced): via my website https://rational-understanding.com/gst-course/
🔗Supported learning: via Google Classroom through the ISSS Student SIG.

Those in full-time or part-time education are especially encouraged to join the Student SIG, where they can benefit from guidance by experienced systems scientists, discussion with fellow learners, and access to a wider international community. To join go to : https://isss.org

I hope these resources are useful to those interested in systems theory.

01 Philosophical Foundations of General Systems Theory

This paper sets out the philosophical basis for the Extended Framework for General Systems Theory (EFGST), integrating two complementary perspectives:

Cognitive Physicalism – everything that exists is physical and located in space–time, including cognition itself
Critical Realism – reality exists independently of our knowledge, but our understanding of it is always mediated

Together, these provide a realist yet epistemically modest foundation for systems science.

The paper explores several key implications, including:

systems as real, structured physical entities
knowledge as model-based and necessarily partial
the distinction between observable events and underlying causal structures
and the idea that the future is constrained but not predetermined, unfolding through branching possibilities shaped by interaction and agency

One theme that runs throughout is that we never act directly on reality itself, but on representations of it; representations that are sufficient for action, but never complete.

To illustrate this, I’ve included a banner image accompanying the paper.
You might like to take a careful look at it…

The paper can be downloaded in pdf format from https://rational-understanding.com/EFGST#01