Paul Cilliers
Biographic Data
| ID | 265441 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Paul Cilliers |
| GIVEN NAMES | Paul |
| FAMILY NAME | Cilliers |
| SIGNATURE | CILLIERS P |
| AFFILIATIONS | Stellenbosch University |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 18 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 119 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 18 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1998 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2016 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Postmodern knowledge and complexity (or why anything does not go)
L'A. propose une interpretation epistemologique de la theorie postmoderne, selon laquelle le postmodernisme, defini a la lecture de la «Condition postmoderne» de J.-F. Lyotard, est sensible a la nature meme des sytemes complexes qui composent la realite contemporaine de la societe humaine
Deconstruction and complexity: A critical economy
In this paper we argue for the contribution that deconstruction can make towards an understanding of complex systems. We begin with a description of what we mean by complexity and how Derrida's thought illustrates a sensitivity towards the problems we face when dealing with complex systems. This is especially clear in Derrida's deconstruction of the structuralist linguistics of Ferdinand de Saussure. We compare this critique with the work of Edga…
Complexity, Modeling, and Natural Resource Management
Cilliers, P., H. C. Biggs, S. Blignaut, A. G. Choles, J. S. Hofmeyr, G. P. W. Jewitt, and D. J. Roux. 2013. Complexity, modeling, and natural resource management. Ecology and Society 18(3): 1. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-05382-180301
Towards an Economy of Complexity: Derrida, Morin and Bataille
In this article we explore the possibility of viewing complex systems, as well as the models we create of such systems, as operating within a particular type of economy. The type of economy we aim to establish here is inspired by Jacques Derrida's reading of George Bataille's notion of a general economy. We restrict our discussion to the philosophical use of the word 'economy'. This reading tries to overcome the idea of an economy as restricted t…
The ethics of complexity and the complexity of ethics
In this paper, we investigate the implications that a general view of complexity - i.e. the view that complex phenomena are irreducible - hold for our understanding of ethics. In this view, ethics should be conceived of as constitutive of knowledge and identity, rather than as a normative system that dictates right action. Using this understanding, we elaborate on the ethics of complexity and the complexity of ethics. Whilst the former concerns t…
Complexity and transdisciplinarity – Discontinuity, levels of Reality and the Hidden Third
Requisite Simplicities to Help Negotiate Complex Problems
From Representation to Emergence: Complexity's challenge to the epistemology of schooling
In modern, Western societies the purpose of schooling is to ensure that school‐goers acquire knowledge of pre‐existing practices, events, entities and so on. The knowledge that is learned is then tested to see if the learner has acquired a correct or adequate understanding of it. For this reason, it can be argued that schooling is organised around a representational epistemology: one which holds that knowledge is an accurate representation of som…
Knowledge, limits and boundaries
Complexity, Deconstruction and Relativism
We cannot make complete, absolute or final claims about complex systems. Post-structuralism, and specifically deconstruction, make similar claims about knowledge in general. Arguments against deconstruction can, therefore, also be held against a critical form of complexity thinking and a defence of the view from complexity (as presented here) should take account of them. Three of these arguments are investigated: that deconstruction and complexit…
Die Soektog na die Etiese Moment in die Teater / The Search for the Ethical Moment in the Theatre
Theatre is often seen as something which makes an important contribution in working for social change—nowhere more so than in South Africa. This article analyses the different ways in which theatre can play such an ethical role, specifically when ethics is interpreted from a poststructural perspective. In this paradigm ethics moves beyond a definition of 'right and wrong', towards the search for a non-violent relation with the Other. If theatre c…
Narrating the self: Freud, Dennett and complexity theory
Adopt ing a ma te ri al ist ap proach to the mind has far reach ing im pli ca tions for many pre sup po si tions re gard ing the prop er ties of the brain, in clud ing those that have tra di tion ally been con signed to “the men tal ” as pect of hu man be-ing. One such pre sup po si tion is the con cep tion of the dis em bod ied self. In this ar ti cle we aim to ac count for the self as a ma te rial en tity, in that it is wholly the re sult of th…
Dialogue Disrupted: Derrida, Gadamer and the Ethics of Discussion
This essay gives an account of the exchanges between Jacques Derrida and Hans-Georg Gadamer at the Goethe Institute in Paris in April 1981. Many commentators perceive of this encounter as an “improbable debate,” citing Derrida’s marginalization, or, in deconstructive terms, deconcentration of Gadamer’s opening text as the main reason for its “improbability.” An analysis of the questions that Derrida poses concerning “communication” as an axiom fr…
The Formation of the Self. Nietzsche and Complexity
The purpose of this article is to examine the relationship between the formation of the self and the worldly horizon within which this self achieves its meaning. Our inquiry takes place from two perspectives: the first derived from the Nietzschean analysis of how one becomes what one is; the other from current developments in complexity theory. This two-angled approach opens up different, yet related dimensions of a non-essentialist understanding…
Boundaries, Hierarchies and Networks in Complex Systems
Models used in the understanding of complex entities, like organisations, are problematic in several respects. After an introductory discussion of this problem, this paper addresses the problems associated with the boundaries of complex systems, arguing that although boundaries do exist, they have a peculiar nature. Similarly, it is argued that although hierarchies form an important part of the structure of complex systems, they are not clearly d…
Freud’s “Project”, Distributed Systems, and Solipsism
This paper discusses Freud’s model of the psychical apparatus in the “Project”, and concludes that it is a remarkably sophisticated work which even today is still highly relevant to neuropsychological theorising. Freud rejects the notion that what happens in the brain can be clearly localised in space and time. This anticipates the notion of a distributed system found in recent developments in computing (“neural networks”) and in Derrida’s concep…
Complexity and postmodernism. Understanding complex systems' Reply to David Spurrett
(1999). 'Complexity and postmodernism. Understanding complex systems' Reply to David Spurrett. South African Journal of Philosophy: Vol. 18, No. 2, pp. 275-278
Beyond the politics of positionality: Deconstruction and feminism
The article commences with a discussion of Derrida's alleged anti-feminist position. We argue that, given his distinction between ‘reactive’ and ‘maverick’ feminism, this is an over-simplification. A correlation is drawn between the latter form of feminism and deconstruction by showing that both maintain a relation to the ‘beyond’ of the established logocentric system. The second section of the article deals with the placing of woman in Derrida's…
Complexity, Deconstruction and Relativism
We cannot make complete, absolute or final claims about complex systems. Post-structuralism, and specifically deconstruction, make similar claims about knowledge in general. Arguments against deconstruction can, therefore, also be held against a critical form of complexity thinking and a defence of the view from complexity (as presented here) should take account of them. Three of these arguments are investigated: that deconstruction and complexit…
From Representation to Emergence: Complexity's challenge to the epistemology of schooling
In modern, Western societies the purpose of schooling is to ensure that school‐goers acquire knowledge of pre‐existing practices, events, entities and so on. The knowledge that is learned is then tested to see if the learner has acquired a correct or adequate understanding of it. For this reason, it can be argued that schooling is organised around a representational epistemology: one which holds that knowledge is an accurate representation of som…
Knowledge, limits and boundaries
Towards an Economy of Complexity: Derrida, Morin and Bataille
In this article we explore the possibility of viewing complex systems, as well as the models we create of such systems, as operating within a particular type of economy. The type of economy we aim to establish here is inspired by Jacques Derrida's reading of George Bataille's notion of a general economy. We restrict our discussion to the philosophical use of the word 'economy'. This reading tries to overcome the idea of an economy as restricted t…
Requisite Simplicities to Help Negotiate Complex Problems
Complexity and transdisciplinarity – Discontinuity, levels of Reality and the Hidden Third
The Formation of the Self. Nietzsche and Complexity
The purpose of this article is to examine the relationship between the formation of the self and the worldly horizon within which this self achieves its meaning. Our inquiry takes place from two perspectives: the first derived from the Nietzschean analysis of how one becomes what one is; the other from current developments in complexity theory. This two-angled approach opens up different, yet related dimensions of a non-essentialist understanding…
Complexity, Modeling, and Natural Resource Management
Cilliers, P., H. C. Biggs, S. Blignaut, A. G. Choles, J. S. Hofmeyr, G. P. W. Jewitt, and D. J. Roux. 2013. Complexity, modeling, and natural resource management. Ecology and Society 18(3): 1. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-05382-180301
The ethics of complexity and the complexity of ethics
In this paper, we investigate the implications that a general view of complexity - i.e. the view that complex phenomena are irreducible - hold for our understanding of ethics. In this view, ethics should be conceived of as constitutive of knowledge and identity, rather than as a normative system that dictates right action. Using this understanding, we elaborate on the ethics of complexity and the complexity of ethics. Whilst the former concerns t…
Deconstruction and complexity: A critical economy
In this paper we argue for the contribution that deconstruction can make towards an understanding of complex systems. We begin with a description of what we mean by complexity and how Derrida's thought illustrates a sensitivity towards the problems we face when dealing with complex systems. This is especially clear in Derrida's deconstruction of the structuralist linguistics of Ferdinand de Saussure. We compare this critique with the work of Edga…
Dialogue Disrupted: Derrida, Gadamer and the Ethics of Discussion
This essay gives an account of the exchanges between Jacques Derrida and Hans-Georg Gadamer at the Goethe Institute in Paris in April 1981. Many commentators perceive of this encounter as an “improbable debate,” citing Derrida’s marginalization, or, in deconstructive terms, deconcentration of Gadamer’s opening text as the main reason for its “improbability.” An analysis of the questions that Derrida poses concerning “communication” as an axiom fr…
Beyond the politics of positionality: Deconstruction and feminism
The article commences with a discussion of Derrida's alleged anti-feminist position. We argue that, given his distinction between ‘reactive’ and ‘maverick’ feminism, this is an over-simplification. A correlation is drawn between the latter form of feminism and deconstruction by showing that both maintain a relation to the ‘beyond’ of the established logocentric system. The second section of the article deals with the placing of woman in Derrida's…
Complexity and postmodernism. Understanding complex systems' Reply to David Spurrett
(1999). 'Complexity and postmodernism. Understanding complex systems' Reply to David Spurrett. South African Journal of Philosophy: Vol. 18, No. 2, pp. 275-278
Boundaries, Hierarchies and Networks in Complex Systems
Models used in the understanding of complex entities, like organisations, are problematic in several respects. After an introductory discussion of this problem, this paper addresses the problems associated with the boundaries of complex systems, arguing that although boundaries do exist, they have a peculiar nature. Similarly, it is argued that although hierarchies form an important part of the structure of complex systems, they are not clearly d…
Freud’s “Project”, Distributed Systems, and Solipsism
This paper discusses Freud’s model of the psychical apparatus in the “Project”, and concludes that it is a remarkably sophisticated work which even today is still highly relevant to neuropsychological theorising. Freud rejects the notion that what happens in the brain can be clearly localised in space and time. This anticipates the notion of a distributed system found in recent developments in computing (“neural networks”) and in Derrida’s concep…
The Formation of the Self. Nietzsche and Complexity
The purpose of this article is to examine the relationship between the formation of the self and the worldly horizon within which this self achieves its meaning. Our inquiry takes place from two perspectives: the first derived from the Nietzschean analysis of how one becomes what one is; the other from current developments in complexity theory. This two-angled approach opens up different, yet related dimensions of a non-essentialist understanding…
Dialogue Disrupted: Derrida, Gadamer and the Ethics of Discussion
This essay gives an account of the exchanges between Jacques Derrida and Hans-Georg Gadamer at the Goethe Institute in Paris in April 1981. Many commentators perceive of this encounter as an “improbable debate,” citing Derrida’s marginalization, or, in deconstructive terms, deconcentration of Gadamer’s opening text as the main reason for its “improbability.” An analysis of the questions that Derrida poses concerning “communication” as an axiom fr…
Die Soektog na die Etiese Moment in die Teater / The Search for the Ethical Moment in the Theatre
Theatre is often seen as something which makes an important contribution in working for social change—nowhere more so than in South Africa. This article analyses the different ways in which theatre can play such an ethical role, specifically when ethics is interpreted from a poststructural perspective. In this paradigm ethics moves beyond a definition of 'right and wrong', towards the search for a non-violent relation with the Other. If theatre c…
Narrating the self: Freud, Dennett and complexity theory
Adopt ing a ma te ri al ist ap proach to the mind has far reach ing im pli ca tions for many pre sup po si tions re gard ing the prop er ties of the brain, in clud ing those that have tra di tion ally been con signed to “the men tal ” as pect of hu man be-ing. One such pre sup po si tion is the con cep tion of the dis em bod ied self. In this ar ti cle we aim to ac count for the self as a ma te rial en tity, in that it is wholly the re sult of th…
Knowledge, limits and boundaries
Complexity, Deconstruction and Relativism
We cannot make complete, absolute or final claims about complex systems. Post-structuralism, and specifically deconstruction, make similar claims about knowledge in general. Arguments against deconstruction can, therefore, also be held against a critical form of complexity thinking and a defence of the view from complexity (as presented here) should take account of them. Three of these arguments are investigated: that deconstruction and complexit…
From Representation to Emergence: Complexity's challenge to the epistemology of schooling
In modern, Western societies the purpose of schooling is to ensure that school‐goers acquire knowledge of pre‐existing practices, events, entities and so on. The knowledge that is learned is then tested to see if the learner has acquired a correct or adequate understanding of it. For this reason, it can be argued that schooling is organised around a representational epistemology: one which holds that knowledge is an accurate representation of som…
Requisite Simplicities to Help Negotiate Complex Problems
The ethics of complexity and the complexity of ethics
In this paper, we investigate the implications that a general view of complexity - i.e. the view that complex phenomena are irreducible - hold for our understanding of ethics. In this view, ethics should be conceived of as constitutive of knowledge and identity, rather than as a normative system that dictates right action. Using this understanding, we elaborate on the ethics of complexity and the complexity of ethics. Whilst the former concerns t…
Complexity and transdisciplinarity – Discontinuity, levels of Reality and the Hidden Third
Deconstruction and complexity: A critical economy
In this paper we argue for the contribution that deconstruction can make towards an understanding of complex systems. We begin with a description of what we mean by complexity and how Derrida's thought illustrates a sensitivity towards the problems we face when dealing with complex systems. This is especially clear in Derrida's deconstruction of the structuralist linguistics of Ferdinand de Saussure. We compare this critique with the work of Edga…
Complexity, Modeling, and Natural Resource Management
Cilliers, P., H. C. Biggs, S. Blignaut, A. G. Choles, J. S. Hofmeyr, G. P. W. Jewitt, and D. J. Roux. 2013. Complexity, modeling, and natural resource management. Ecology and Society 18(3): 1. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-05382-180301
Towards an Economy of Complexity: Derrida, Morin and Bataille
In this article we explore the possibility of viewing complex systems, as well as the models we create of such systems, as operating within a particular type of economy. The type of economy we aim to establish here is inspired by Jacques Derrida's reading of George Bataille's notion of a general economy. We restrict our discussion to the philosophical use of the word 'economy'. This reading tries to overcome the idea of an economy as restricted t…
Postmodern knowledge and complexity (or why anything does not go)
L'A. propose une interpretation epistemologique de la theorie postmoderne, selon laquelle le postmodernisme, defini a la lecture de la «Condition postmoderne» de J.-F. Lyotard, est sensible a la nature meme des sytemes complexes qui composent la realite contemporaine de la societe humaine
Epistemology (15 works) · Philosophy (15 works) · Sociology (14 works) · Computer Science (8 works) · Chaos, Complexity, and Education (5 works) · Philosophy (5 works) · Complex Systems and Decision Making (4 works) · Critical Realism in Sociology (4 works) · Political science (4 works) · Art (3 works)