Complexity, Difference and Identity

by Cilliers, Paul; Preiser, Rika

• ISBN13: 9789048191864
• ISBN10: 9048191866
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-08-31
• Publisher: Springer Verlag

Summary

"Complexity" has been part of the academic discourse for a decade or two. Texts on Complexity fall mainly in two categories: fairly technical and mathematical on the one hand, and fairly broad, vague and general on the other. Paul Cilliers' book Complexity and Postmodernism. Understanding Complex Systems (Routledge 1998) constituted an attempt to bridge this divide by reflecting more rigorously on the philosophical implications of complexity, and by making it accessible to the social sciences. This edited volume is a continuation of this project, with specific reference to the ethical implications of acknowledging complexity. These issues are pertinent to our understanding of organisations and institutions and could contribute significantly to the development of a richer understanding of ethics in business and would be a useful tool for teachers, researchers and post-graduate students with ethical concerns in disciplines ranging from Philosophy, Applied Ethics, Sociology, Organisational Studies, Political Science, Anthropology and Cultural Studies.The central theme which binds all the contributions together is: the inevitability of normative and ethical issues when dealing with complex phenomena. The book should thus be useful in the development of Business Ethics on two levels: in the first place on the level of developing a strong theoretical foundation, in the second place in providing specific examples of this theory in action in the real world.

Table of Contents

Complexity
Difference, Identity and Complexity	p. 3
The Complex ôIö: The Formation of Identity in Complex Systems	p. 19
Difference
Complexity: The Evolution of Identity and Diversity	p. 41
Comparison, Diversity and Complexity	p. 61
Identity
A Dynamical Approach to Identity and Diversity in Complex Systems	p. 79
Negativity, Difference and Critique: The Ethical Moment in Complexity	p. 95
Complexity and Ethics
The Complexity of Difference, Ethics and the Law	p. 115
Ethical Complexity	p. 131
Ethical Consequences
Corporate Identity, Responsibility and the Ethics of Complexity	p. 167
Business Ethics from Below: Rethinking Organisational Values, Strategy and Trust	p. 193
Agonistic Engagements: Difference, Meaning and Deliberation in South African Cities	p. 215
Africa: Globalisation and the Ethical	p. 241
Unpacking the Ethics of Complexity: Concluding Reflections	p. 265
Glossary	p. 289
Index	p. 297
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