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Resumo

An attempt is made to unite diverse principles of contemporary sociology by viewing social systems as adaptive systems whose members are also adaptive systems, the general class of systems that attempt to maximize internal values by modifying their behavior and/or structure. Large numbers of sociological and behavioral propositions were examined and those that met criteria of relevance, clarity, and empirical support were restated in a standardized format. A systems‐theoretical reductionist perspective was applied to these selected propositions with the aid of a theorem‐generating computer program developed as part of the research, in order to identify the subset that, as axioms, would most efficiently generate those remaining as theorems. The resulting axiomatic theory appears to satisfy the scientific criteria of generality and parsimony, as well as the additional design goals of ready comprehension and application, the latter tested in part by social‐system simulations. Among the nontrivial derivatives illustrated are principal propositions related to learning, values, economic models of decision making, social exchange, arms races, coalition formation, segregation, and cultural evolution.

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