Knowledge to manage the knowledge society: The concept of theoretical incompleteness

Abstract

After having outlined the essential differences between non-complex systems and complex systems we briefly recall the conceptual approaches considered by the pre-complexity General Systems Theory introduced by Von Bertalanffy in 1968 and those of the science of complexity and post-Bertalanffy General Systems Theory. In this context, after outlining the concept of completeness, we consider cases of incompleteness in various disciplines to arrive at theoretical incompleteness. The latter is clarified through several cases of different natures and by approaches in the literature, such as logical openness, the Dynamic Usage of Models (DYSAM), and the principle of uncertainty in physics. The treatment and the contrast between completeness and incompleteness are introduced as a conceptual and cultural context, as knowledge to manage the knowledge society in analogy, for example, with the transition from the logic of certainty to that of uncertainty introduced by De Finetti. The conceptual framework of completeness is not appropriate for dealing with complexity. Conversely, the conceptual framework of incompleteness is consistent and appropriate with interdisciplinary complexity.