Modern scientific knowledge is characterized by rapid and ever-accelerating rates of development. This development occurs both in breadth and depth and is accompanied by a sharp increase in the role of scientific ideas and theories in the life of society, which allows us to rightfully speak of science as a direct productive force, as an important engine of social progress.

Today's science of management large systems is the core of processes of transformation of reality that are exceptional in depth and significance, in which the scientific and technical potential of society is fused into one inextricable whole with the practical productive activities of people. These processes determine the content of the scientific and technological revolution taking place before our eyes.

Within the framework of today's scientific and technological progress, the problems of control and automation occupy a prominent place, which is reflected in the materials of the XXV and XXV1st congresses of the CPSU. Theoretical methods for studying large systems contribute to improving the management of production and socio-economic processes and underlie the creation automated systems management.

Control theory for large systems is important integral part cybernetics. The subject of her research is the management processes of such complex objects as an enterprise, industry, city, territorial production complex, national economy in general, etc. The peculiarity of all these objects, called large systems, is that they include a large number of interconnected and at the same time different-quality components, have a hierarchical structure, and a complex, usually probabilistic, nature of functioning. Unlike complex technical or biological systems, large systems include humans as one of the important elements that determine the characteristics of the functioning of large systems. Therefore, large systems always act as processes of human interaction with various kinds of objects of animate and inanimate nature. We are talking, for example, about human-machine, socio-technical, socio-economic, socio-ecological systems.

The concept of a large system is sometimes used as a synonym for a complex system. However, as can be seen from the previous remarks, not every complex system is large, but almost every large system is complex.

An important feature of large and complex systems is their close relationship with the environment. The environment acts as a source of information and resources and as a sphere of activity of systems, a “consumer” of the results of functioning. Exploring Large Systems modern methods cybernetics, we are looking for ways to holistically consider systems, abstracting from their internal diversity of quality. It turns out that all these methods are in one way or another connected with the functional approach, which acts as a conceptual basis for many cybernetic disciplines - automata theory, information theory, algorithm theory, game theory, optimization theory, etc., studying various aspects of the functioning of systems. Acting within the framework of the functional approach, the methods of cybernetics take an object not from the point of view of its internal structure, the features of its substrate basis, but from the point of view of the characteristics of the functioning of the object, from the point of view of the connections of this object with the environment. It turns out that in the behavior of the most various systems, no matter how they are arranged, you can find a lot in common. This generality becomes a logical-empirical prerequisite, a starting point for studying the patterns of functioning of large systems and constructing corresponding theories.

The functional nature of cybernetics was emphasized by many Soviet authors and was one way or another reflected in most studies on the philosophical and methodological problems of cybernetics (L.B. Bazhenov, B.V. Biryukov, I.V. Blauberg, D.I. Dubrovsky, I.B. Novik, M.I. Setrov, V.S. Tyukhtin, B.S. Ukraintsev, A.D. Ursul, E.G. Yudin, etc.).

Relevance of the problem. The relevance of the dissertation topic is determined by the widespread use of the functional approach in the modern complex scientific disciplines, exploring control issues in large and complex systems. In this area, the functional approach plays a fundamental role in the construction of theoretical models of systems, as well as in the development of a conceptual research apparatus.

The functional approach is an adequate means for revealing the essence of many processes occurring in biological and social systems ah, where the processes of management and self-government constitute their most characteristic feature. The nature of the concepts of hierarchy, information specific to large and complex systems of integrity, purposefulness, optimality and other important concepts can be largely understood within the framework of the functional approach. Even in the field of modern physical problems (quantum physics, the theory of relativity and gravity), the functional point of view turns out to be useful for the philosophical interpretation of some fundamental methodological difficulties in the development of these theories, historically formed on a different conceptual basis, namely on the basis of structural representations of the objects of study.

The relevance of developing a methodology for the functional approach increases sharply when studying decision-making processes, and, in particular, when developing models for planning and managing complex socio-economic systems. The requirements of the functional approach turn out to be necessary and natural conditions for the implementation of the principle of optimality, and are directly reflected in design features models. Because of this, models of large systems acquire a new epistemological coloring, their role in the system of scientific knowledge changes, and a tendency towards a sharp convergence of theoretical and applied aspects of scientific research is revealed.

Finally, we note that the relevance of the problem considered in the dissertation is also determined by the currently rapidly developing research in the field of social ecology. The interdisciplinary nature of these studies, the need for their conceptual synthesis, the severity of modern environmental problems, as well as the clearly functional nature of most of the phenomena encountered here, indicate that the development of a functional approach in socio-ecological research is not only important in essence, but also requires increased efforts and is an urgent task of today.

State of development of the problem. Characterizing the current state of development of methodological problems of the functional approach, we must first of all note the variety of interpretations of the functional approach, which have certain historical and epistemological prerequisites.

The functional approach is often understood as a method (or a set of methods) for studying the behavioral characteristics of an object (in psychology and sociology), or as an approach focused on studying the functions of morphologically identified parts or structural complexes within an organic whole (in biology and physiology), or as a method " black box" (in cybernetics), etc.

The very variety of interpretations of the functional approach indicates that none of these interpretations exhausts the functional approach entirely, but rather is only one of its aspects or moments. Evstafieva L.I. prefers to talk in this regard about two forms of the functional approach: pre-cybernet or traditional forms, which include interpretations of the functional approach characteristic of psychology, sociology, biology, physiology and the cybernetic form, which historically arose later in connection with the development of cybernetic methods." ""

A common feature that unites all interpretations is abstraction from the internal structure and composition of the object under study. Its role in the research process may be different. If abstraction is present only as a moment in each given specific study, ultimately aimed at identifying the structure, then the functional approach acts as a component of the structural-functional approach. In this form it often appears in biology and physiology. With deeper abstraction, aimed at identifying common functional features within a whole class of structures, as is the case in cybernetics, the functional approach grows to the size of a general scientific principle, a theoretical-cognitive attitude, which is of fundamental importance for a wide complex

Evstafieva L.I. Functional approach and its possibilities in scientific knowledge. (Author's abstract of candidate's dissertation), - M.: Moscow State University, 1980. disciplines that study the phenomenon of management.

Other common feature, which unites all interpretations of the functional approach - consideration of the object of study through the prism of its relationship with other objects and the environment. This point is especially important in all those cases when the specified relationship, interconnection becomes a condition for the existence of the object itself and, to that extent, turns out to be a characteristic of the essence of the object. This feature of the functional approach, unfortunately, is often overlooked. Meanwhile, it is with it that, first of all, the general scientific interpretation of the functional approach is connected, its exceptional significance not only in cybernetics, but also in biology, sociology, economics and other sciences, not excluding even modern branches of physics. Note that a comprehensive disclosure of the essence and meaning the specified trait functional approach in the dissertation is carried out for the first time.

One more note. Within the framework of the theory of control of large systems, the functional approach is not an alternative to the systems approach, the development of which is closely related to the development of the so-called system concepts, the general theory of systems. The systems approach starts from the concept of a system. The content of the methods of the systems approach depends to a certain extent on how this concept is defined. Since the functional, behavioral properties of systems and their elements, in explicit or implicit form, act as moments of definition of the system or, in any case, as specific features

In a fairly wide class of systems, the functional approach can be considered as one of the means of the systems approach, or as its concretization, a specific form in the specified class of systems.

After the clarifications and comments made, we move on to describing the state of development of the complex of problems studied in the dissertation.

Note that in the area economic relations We are constantly faced with a functional interpretation of many important concepts. Considering a product as a specific relationship between producer and consumer, we, in fact, take a functional point of view, since we are trying to understand the nature of the product not as a separately existing thing, but primarily in its relation to certain social and production conditions, the socio-economic environment . In the same way, the nature of money turns out to be connected not with the substance from which it is made, but with the relationship of commodity exchange. The person himself, being included in a complex system public relations, acquires personality properties and only in this way can it be understood as a historical phenomenon.

In all these cases, we act identically, namely, we try to consider the object of study through the prism of its relationship with other objects, the environment, abstracting from the substrate-structural features of the object itself, as required by the functional approach.

Turning to the field of biology, we see that here the methodology of the functional approach turns out to be one of the important means of studying living things. The principle of the dialectical unity of the organism and the environment formed the basis for the study of not only the behavioral characteristics of the organism, but also the very essence of life processes.

In the works of I.P. Pavlov, I.M. Sechenov, I.V. Michurin and other Russian biologists and physiologists, the ideas of the functional approach receive further development. Without this approach, it would be impossible to understand the nature of conditioned and unconditioned reflexes and to reveal many features of the psyche of animals and humans.

Let us emphasize once again that in all previous examples the functional approach manifests itself not only in abstraction from the substrate-structural side of the object (this is only the formal aspect of the functional approach), but first of all in the study of the relationship between the object and the environment, which constitutes the substantive aspect functional approach. Taking this circumstance into account, we can say that the use of the functional approach in scientific knowledge has a much richer history than is commonly thought, and certainly deserves separate study.

With the emergence of cybernetics, a new era in the development of functional concepts begins. Here the functional point of view permeates literally all studies. It manifests itself not only in the “black box” concept, but serves as the main starting point when constructing models of large and complex systems, when studying problems of information transfer, when developing theoretical foundations designing electronic computers, etc. The concept of management itself can be defined only functionally as the relationship between the managed object and the one who exercises control. It is natural, therefore, that philosophical and methodological analysis of management and the characteristics of cybernetics itself as scientific knowledge as a whole should go under the banner of a functional approach.

Initially, the discussion of the philosophical aspects of cybernetics was localized around issues related to elucidating the fundamental possibilities of cybernetic modeling. And even then, the focus of attention was, in fact, on the problem of the relationship between the substrate-structural and functional aspects in complex phenomena, primarily in the phenomena of life and the psyche. A significant contribution to the study of this problem was made by Soviet scientists S.F. Anisimov, L.B. Bazhenov, V.M. Glushkov, A.N. Kolmogorov, A.N. Kochergin, I.B. Novik, D.A. Pospelov , V.N. Pushkin, A.I. Uyomov, V.S. Tyukhtin and others.

Much attention was also paid to identifying the essence of the concept of information, which plays an important role in describing the functioning of complex systems and combines a variety of different aspects. A detailed study of the philosophical problems of information phenomena was undertaken by B.V. Biryukov, A.A. Bratko, J.I. Grishkin, D.I. Dubrovsky, N.I. Zhukov, A.N. Kochergin, V.I. Kremyansky, V.S. Tyukhtin, A.D. Ursul, etc. As a result of the research, the limits of applicability of statistical interpretation of information were identified, the possibilities of philosophical understanding of information within the framework of the theory of reflection were assessed, and ways of creating generalized concepts of information were analyzed.

With all the ways of interpreting and generalizing the concept of information, one thing turned out to be clear, namely, that every information process remains indifferent to the substrate-structural nature of the systems that implement this process. On the contrary, even simple transmission of information is unthinkable without its transformation, i.e. without constant change of material media. The most important thing is that information generally cannot be considered as a property of things considered separately from the rest of the world. In all cases, it manifests itself only as a property of the relationship between things or, more narrowly, as a property of the relationship between the object and the subject of knowledge. In other words, information phenomena reveal a functional nature and can be adequately interpreted only within the framework of a functional approach.

In parallel with methodological studies based on the material of cybernetics and partly thanks to them, attempts arose to create system-wide theoretical concepts designed to bring single base under existing branches of knowledge and provide a solid theoretical status to research conducted at the interdisciplinary level (L. Bertalanffy, M. Mesarovich, N. Rashevsky, R. Ashby, etc.). A useful result of these attempts was a comprehensive study of the phenomenon of systematicity and the closely related manifestation of integrity, which one constantly encounters when studying biological and social objects. Integrity becomes the subject of detailed philosophical research (N.T. Abramova, V.G. Afanasyev, I.B. Blauberg, B.G. Yudin, G.A. Yugai). All these studies simultaneously stimulated the development of a broader view of the problem of the relationship between the concepts of function and structure in the system of scientific knowledge, and the role of the functional approach in the theory of control of large and complex systems, the importance of which became increasingly obvious.

The functional approach plays a central role in the construction of optimization models for managing large economic systems. This area is completely insufficiently covered by philosophical research. Although the concepts of control and optimality always go side by side and are obviously closely related to each other, the first is almost constantly in the focus of attention of philosophers, while the second has only recently become the subject of methodological analysis in separate articles. But there are monographic publications where optimality is studied in detail in relation to the sphere of physical phenomena, in the form of principles of extremality, not directly related to control problems (O.S. Razumovsky, A.A. Asseev, etc.).

In the field of socio-economic systems, problems of control and optimality are closely related to the characteristic feature of these systems - purposefulness and purposefulness of behavior.

The concepts of purpose and purposefulness have been studied by a number of authors (E.Kh.Gimelylteyb, M.G.Makarov, N.N.Trubnikov, B.S.Ukraintsev, etc.). from general philosophical and system-wide positions, but, unfortunately, in isolation from the problem of optimization as it arises in modern economic cybernetics. It also seems that the functional nature of goal-directed movements was also significantly underestimated. Meanwhile, in the modern theory of large economic systems, the concepts of purpose and purposefulness become absolutely necessary structural element in the tasks of organizing the purposeful functioning of systems. Without them, the formation of a system analysis apparatus would have been impossible; they stimulated the emergence and development of the practically relevant and theoretically important concept of program-targeted management.

A completely undeveloped area of ​​research is the assessment of the role of the functional approach in the spatiotemporal description of large and complex systems. Questions of this kind have not yet been raised in philosophical literature. If we turn to the complex of disciplines that study the processes of management and self-organization, then one important feature catches the eye: space-time relations here acquire a different meaning and reveal new methodological functions thanks to the exceptional role in the theory of large and complex systems of the philosophical category of possibility, which he strongly emphasized R. Ashby, but which nevertheless remained in the shadows of most researchers. Space, not as actual space, but as a space of possibilities, provides sufficient reason for serious philosophical reflection, if only because it acts in this aspect as a category closely related to the concept of information.

No less interesting is the functional interpretation of time, which apparently has great value for a philosophical interpretation of the so-called biological rhythms, which have long attracted the attention of specialists.

An important area of ​​application of the methodology of the functional approach is social ecology, which has been rapidly developing in recent years. Numerous philosophical studies of the relationship between society and nature in relation to the current ecological situation(D.M. Gvishiani, E.V. Girusov, V.A. Los, V.G. Marakhov, I.B. Novik, S.N. Smirnov, E.K. Fedorov, P.N. Fedoseev, etc. .) show that here we are faced with processes unprecedented in scale and complexity. It is difficult to find any scientific discipline that would not be involved in one way or another in environmental problems. Security environment and rational use of natural resources are also closely related to the political problems of our time.

However, it should be noted that insufficient attention is paid to the study of characteristic features construction and genesis of a system of environmental knowledge, which seem relevant in connection with the problem of identifying the role and significance of social ecology in common system modern scientific knowledge. The role of the functional approach in ecology, which is important in the development of models for managing the natural environment, models of the cycle of energy and matter in the biosphere, in the creation of environmental research programs and the synthesis of environmental knowledge, is not covered at all.

Goals and objectives of the study. The main goal of the dissertation research is to determine the essence of the functional approach and identify its methodological significance in the theory and practice of managing large systems.

Achieving the research goal involves solving the following theoretical problems:

To provide a methodological analysis of the prerequisites and conditions for the applicability of the functional approach in scientific knowledge, identifying the area of ​​its adequate use and relationship with the structural approach;

Give a description of the conceptual means of the functional approach and determine its connection with the categorical apparatus of the theory of control of large systems;

Identify the role of the functional approach in the problems of optimal management and organization of targeted development of large systems;

Identify the conditions for the applicability of the functional principle of reduction in the study of complex problem situations and coordination of decision-making processes in multi-level systems;

Reveal the features of the spatio-temporal description of large systems in terms of the functional approach;

Determine the role of conceptual tools of the functional approach in the study of processes of managing the relationship between society and nature;

Give a reasonable development practical recommendations to improve the management of socio-ecological systems.

The methodological basis of the study is the basic principles of materialist dialectics as a doctrine of universal connection and development. In the dissertation, the author directly used the provisions on the dialectical relationship between the categories of necessity and chance, possibility and reality (when discussing the concepts of management, information, purposefulness), stability and variability (when discussing the phenomena of homeostasis in large and complex systems), internal and external (when describing structural and functional representations of objects of research), cause and effect (when describing the phenomena of functional closure) and a number of other categories.

When conducting the research, the author was guided by the teachings of dialectical materialism about the connection between philosophy and special sciences, about the methodological role of philosophy, about the need for a strong union between philosophy and natural science. Conclusion/Dissertations were obtained through a broad philosophical and methodological analysis and generalization of specific scientific material from a number of disciplines (physics, economics, cybernetics, biology, operations research), as well as practical experience in the development and implementation of automated control systems. In all of the listed disciplines, including automated control systems, the author also has his own publications of both theoretical and applied engineering nature.

When analyzing the essence and methodological significance of the functional approach in the theory and practice of managing large systems, the author relied on the position about the activity-based nature of Marxist-Leninist philosophy, which plays a particularly important role in relation to the topic of the dissertation.

The work also takes into account the ideas developed by Soviet philosophers about the special status of the so-called general scientific categories and approaches, which form an intermediate, transitional layer between specific scientific and philosophical categories and principles and implement specific forms of connection between philosophy and private sciences.

Scientific novelty and provisions submitted for defense. The scientific novelty of the dissertation research is manifested primarily in the formulation of the main goal and objectives of the research. Until now, there have been no attempts in the literature to consistently consider the functional approach as a general scientific, basic principle underlying the theory of control of large systems.

The provisions submitted for defense, which are either entirely original or contain elements of novelty, are as follows:

1. The features of the conceptual and conceptual apparatus of formalized systems of scientific knowledge are largely determined by the way the object of research is presented: structural and functional. In the first case, the object is considered as a system, relatively independent of other objects (the environment), so that the researcher’s main attention is concentrated on the internal relationships and connections of the object that determine its internal factors of integrity. In the second case, the object is considered as a system, relatively independent of its constituent elements, so that the researcher’s main attention is concentrated on the external relations and connections of the object that determine it external factors integrity (unity with the environment). The structural representation of an object is characteristic of physics, the functional one is characteristic of cybernetics.

2. The area of ​​adequate use of the functional approach consists of objects for which relationships and connections with the environment are significant, determining not only change, but the stability and preservation of objects.

3. Research within the framework of the functional approach is not limited to the study of functions or the application of the “black box” method, but is based on broad conceptual tools, including the principle of unity of the object and the environment, the principle of functional closure (a special case of which is the feedback principle), the principle hierarchy, information approach, principle of target management. The dissertation also shows the internal unity of all these principles.

The study of the phenomenon of the complexity of objects described using a functional representation is not limited to the study of the variety of internal relations and connections of the object, but requires taking into account the hierarchical nature of the system feedback between object and environment. This approach allows us to understand the sharp difference in complexity between the world of living and inanimate nature, as well as the fundamental irreducibility of the living phenomenon to the phenomena of cybernetic regulation and control characteristic of complex technical devices.

5. The functional approach underlies models of optimal planning and control, constructed in the form of a set of input-output relationships, connected to each other by a system of restrictions and an optimality criterion (objective function). Optimality expresses the purposeful nature of the development of large systems.

6. The theory of control of large systems is characterized by a tendency to determine the features of the functioning of subsystems based on the features of the functioning of the system as a whole (functional reductionism). One of the manifestations of functional reductionism is a program-target approach, which allows one to determine local management goals based on special procedures for developing global target settings (“tree of goals”). The dissertation outlines the area of ​​adequate applicability of the functional principle of reduction. It is shown that the main factor limiting its role in the theory of optimal control is the contradiction between the structural and functional representation of planning objects, in particular, between the territorial and sectoral aspects of planning.

7. The use of a functional approach to the study of management processes individualizes the spatio-temporal description of management objects: each object is characterized by its own space (space of possibilities) and its own time rhythms. The role of physical space and time fades into the background. The specific spatiotemporal features of large systems are determined by the nature of their connections with the environment.

8. The study of the “Society-Nature” system requires the use of a functional approach when defining the concept of quality of the natural environment, when modeling the processes of circulation of matter and energy in the biosphere and noosphere, in decision-making models to improve the quality of the environment, etc. The important role of the functional approach in social ecology is determined by the very essence of the subject of research, which requires focusing on the relationship between society and the environment in order to optimize and harmonize these relationships.

9. The functional approach can act as a means of interdisciplinary synthesis of knowledge. In this capacity, it acquires great importance in matters of practical organization of socio-ecological research, where interdisciplinarity is especially evident. The possibility of developing methods for simulation modeling of systems consisting of qualitatively heterogeneous components (production and economic systems, city, biosphere, etc.) also largely owes to the application of the ideas of the functional approach.

Theoretical value and practical significance of the work. The theoretical value of the dissertation work is due primarily to the fact that it provides an extensive discussion from the unified positions of the modern conceptual apparatus of the theory of control of large and complex systems. Modern philosophical problems of natural science have developed under the strong influence of the achievements of the physical sciences. This could not but leave its mark on the range of problems discussed and on the very style of philosophical research. The structural representation of research objects, characteristic of physics, largely determined the course of philosophical understanding of the conceptual apparatus of science, the content of its basic concepts, and in a certain way influenced the nature of philosophical generalizations and the formation of natural scientific pictures of the world. The world of large and complex systems turned out to be outside the “canvas” of the picture, which is quite natural.

Modern research in the field of problems of managing large systems presents different requirements not only for the range of problems discussed, but also for the nature and style of philosophical thinking. The theory of large systems is, first of all, a theory of control of these systems, and only to that extent, first of all, is their study important. When considering systemic problems in this aspect, the functional approach becomes important. The situation is now such that philosophical studies of the structure and concepts of modern management science, the nature of philosophical generalizations and the formation of private scientific pictures of the world of large and complex systems are largely determined by the functional representation of the objects of research, characteristic of the mentioned science. Here, in essence, a new direction of philosophical and methodological research is opening, covering not only current issues modernity, but also allows us to rethink many already quite mastered areas of philosophical problems. The theoretical value of the dissertation work lies in the fact that it outlines the direction for research of this kind. In this regard, it is also important to note that the functional approach, the study of which is devoted to the dissertation, is called upon to play in modern management science the same role that the structural approach played in the formation of the harmonious edifice of physical science. And just as the specific features of the structural approach, refracted in physical knowledge, gave rise to and supported the contemplative aspect in the philosophical understanding of the world, so the specific features of the functional approach, refracted in system-cybernetic knowledge, in the theory of control of large and complex systems, give rise to and support the activity aspect in the philosophical understanding of the world, which most closely corresponds to the essence of Marxist-Leninist philosophy and the ideas of dialectical materialism.

The practical significance of the work largely depends on the nature of the results obtained in it. Since the research was carried out at the level of methodological problems of a particular science, the results of the research can have direct application in solving individual problems of this science. Opportunities of this kind are all the more obvious because in the field of scientific disciplines about the control of large systems, there is a convergence of theoretical and practical aspects. The practical significance of the dissertation work in the specific scientific field is that it provides a scientific and methodological basis for the development of practically used control models for large and complex systems.

Developing the methodological and epistemological foundations of the functional approach, the author not only sought to generalize the specific results of cybernetics and systems theory, but also, whenever possible, sought to use the methodological conclusions obtained to solve practical issues rational organization planning and management.

Speaking about the practical significance of the dissertation work, it is worth mentioning personal experience author, who for a number of years has been involved in the practical development and implementation of automated control systems for ministries and departments, as well as territorial, in particular, urban systems, using the conceptual tools of the functional approach to solve many practical problems, starting with the classification of input-output characteristics of systems and ending with the construction of optimization models and long-term planning algorithms.

Thus, the research carried out in the dissertation was, on the one hand, the result of generalizations of specific developments in the field scientific management large systems, and, on the other hand, it was a source of constructive ideas for these same specific developments. In this unity of theoretical generalizations and practical results, the thesis about the convergence of theoretical and practical aspects in modern scientific knowledge is reflected and confirmed.

Approbation and practical use of the results of the work. The conclusions and materials of the dissertation were tested in the following forms:

1. On the issues discussed in the dissertation, 23 works have been published, including the monograph “Functional approach in modern scientific knowledge” (14 pp), and more than 10 reports and speeches have been made at conferences of all-Union and republican significance, symposiums and seminars taking place in 1962-1981.

2. The author used the results, individual provisions and conclusions of the dissertation in speeches at scientific and methodological seminars at the Institute of Mathematics of the SOAN USSR, the State Research Institute of Automated Planning and Control Systems (Novosibirsk), the Novosibirsk Institute of National Economy, the Institute of System Research of the USSR Academy of Sciences , as well as in courses of lectures on dialectical materialism (Novosibirsk Institute of National Economy) and on environmental problems (Novosibirsk Institute of National Economy, Novosibirsk State University).

3. Some of the ideas and provisions developed in the dissertation have found application in specific scientific and design developments, on which the dissertation author has an additional about 15 publications.

4. The dissertation was discussed at a meeting of the Department of Philosophy of the Natural Faculties of Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov and was recommended for defense.

The main results of the study of Chapter III are as follows:

Theoretical and practical problems of managing large systems are largely based on the conceptual tools of the functional approach.

The functional approach underlies optimal planning and control models, constructed in the form of a set of input-output relationships in the space of possibilities. The principle of optimality expresses the purposeful nature of the development of large systems. If goal-setting processes belong to the third level of functional complexity (hence the difficulties in choosing an optimality criterion), then the processes of establishing homeostasis under the conditions of a given optimality criterion belong to the second level of functional complexity. The existence of homeostatic processes in large economic systems explains wide application in economics of cybernetic methods (economic cybernetics).

The functional integrity of problem situations in problems of managing large systems gives rise to a tendency to determine the features of the functioning of subsystems based on the features of the functioning of the system as a whole (functional reductionism). Functional reduction methods formed the basis of the program-target approach. Moreover, they find direct application in procedures for finding optimal solutions. The fundamental limitations of functional reductionism are associated with the existence of a complementarity relationship between structure and function.

The use of a functional approach to the study of control processes individualizes the spatiotemporal description of large systems. Each system has its own space (space of possibilities) and its own temporal rhythms of functioning. The role of physical space and time, related to the description of phenomena at the first level of functional complexity, fades into the background. The specificity of the spatiotemporal description of large systems is determined by the informational nature of the processes occurring in them.

The conceptual tools of the functional approach are intensively used in environmental studies and are the basis of the currently ongoing process of formation of the theory of interaction between society and nature (social ecology). Description of the processes of interaction between man and the environment, development of decision-making models, the form of relationship between theoretical and practical aspects of environmental quality management, the regional nature of socio-ecological problems, specific features of the synthesis of scientific knowledge are somehow related to the implementation of the functional approach in ecology.

CONCLUSION

Let us summarize some general results of the study.

So, the functional approach, which arose as a general scientific theoretical-cognitive approach in the complex of modern scientific disciplines addressing the phenomena of systematicity and management, has become widespread, primarily in places where, due to a number of reasons, it becomes impossible to use usual means structural analysis to obtain an adequate theoretical image of the phenomena being studied. The study of the epistemological premises of the functional approach has shown that already in the system of physical knowledge (namely, in quantum theory and in the theory of gravity) we are faced with fundamental difficulties associated with attempts to extend structural representations of knowledge beyond the limits of their actual applicability.

In the general system of scientific knowledge, the functional approach acts as the opposite of the structural approach. For the latter, the object of study is an object considered separately from its relations and connections with the rest of the world. The functional approach, on the contrary, abstracts from connections and relationships between parts of an object. Naturally, under the conditions of this abstraction, a different conceptual and theoretical research apparatus will be formed, which precisely determines the specific content of the functional approach. The dissertation examines the dialectic of the relationship between the very concepts of structure and function, which appear in scientific knowledge as a unity of opposites. The well-known principle of complementarity by N. Bohr and the principle of uncertainty by St. Wier are considered as consequences of the irreducibility of structure and function to each other.

One of the important results of the study is the identification and detailed analysis of the conceptual tools of the functional approach. The very formulation of such a problem in the dissertation represents a novelty, since until now identifying the content of the functional approach was essentially reduced to identifying its various features or characteristics. We believe, however, that every general scientific approach does not just have these or those characteristics, but carries with it a whole arsenal of conceptual tools with the help of which its specific implementation in scientific knowledge is carried out. The conceptual means of the functional approach include: the principle of unity of the object and the environment and the closely related concept of functional integrity, the principle of functional closure (a special case of which is the feedback principle), the principle of hierarchy and the resulting concept of functional complexity, the concept of space of possibilities and closely associated information approach, target principle.

The methodological significance of the functional approach in the theory and practice of managing large systems is determined primarily by the role of its conceptual tools in this area.

Let's begin a brief summary review of these tools in relation to the tasks of managing large systems with the concept of functional integrity.

It is known that in large and complex systems a peculiar integrity effect arises, the study of which is unthinkable by dismembering the system. However, it would be a clear simplification to believe that this effect arises only due to internal connections in the system. The accumulated experience of studying system objects convinces us of the opposite, namely that the very complexity of these objects often turns out to be not so much a cause as a product of integrity, and that the source of this integrity (which we call functional) must be sought not inside the object, but outside it, in the set of connections that characterizes the object in its relation to other objects (to the environment). Thus, the functional approach is not only and not so much a “cunning” way to bypass the internal complexity of the object of study, but rather an adequate means for identifying the essential aspects of this complex object, its special nature, which lies primarily in the sphere of object-environment relations.

A functional interpretation of the integrity of large systems allows us to understand the reasons for their hierarchical organization, points the way to understanding the most important concepts of cybernetics and the theory of “systems (control, information, homeostasis, purposefulness, etc.).” A specific expression of integrity is the concept of functional closedness of systems, which acts as a kind of opposite to the concept of structural (or physical) closedness. Functional closure means the functional unity of the object and the environment, from which the concept of feedback, in turn, directly follows, as functional characteristics integrity of complex systems. The latter circumstance formed the basis for constructing a qualitative scale of system complexity. By connecting the degree of complexity of a system with the level of feedback implemented in it, we get the opportunity to take a new look at the relationship between various forms the movement of matter, and, in particular, to understand the depth of the differences between living and inanimate nature.

An important methodological conclusion arising from the analysis of the functional scale of complexity is that the cybernetic modeling tools currently being studied are inadequate to the complexity of biological and social systems and therefore their application to these systems can only be limited. The construction of a formalized theoretical apparatus for studying the essence of biological and social phenomena is a matter of the future. But the methods of cybernetics can quite effectively study various types of selection processes when systems strive for homeostatic equilibrium with the environment, including decision-making processes on a certain set of alternatives.

The selection mechanism and decision-making mechanisms that systems have may have varying degrees of perfection. Depending on this, we talk about a high or low level of organization of systems. The dissertation substantiates the view of organization as a tool for solving problems in strict accordance with the etymology of this word. From these positions, the concept of organizational complexity is considered.

The study of decision-making processes naturally leads to the analysis of the principle of optimality, which plays an important role in the theory of large systems and is closely related to the methodology of the functional approach. Optimization of decisions acts as an integral characteristic of large systems, determining the purposefulness of their functioning. Two classes are considered in the dissertation goal-oriented processes corresponding to the second and third levels of functional complexity: goal-oriented and goal-oriented processes are characteristic of a wide class of living systems, expressing their desire for homeostatic equilibrium with the environment, and states of equilibrium as future states of systems, naturally determined by the functional interaction of the system and the environment. , can be “reflected” in a certain way in the control apparatus of the system in the form of target settings at a sufficiently high degree of organization of this apparatus. Such reflection is the most important element in the decision-making mechanism and is directly taken into account in the process of analyzing alternative options using optimality criteria.

The specificity of developing goal settings in a person is manifested not only in the fact that the reflection of future states simultaneously acts as an act of their awareness, but also in the fact that these future states significantly depend on the person himself as a being endowed with the ability to work. However, it does not at all follow from this that human activity is an exclusively volitional process that goes beyond the control of objectively existing laws. The essence of the matter is that the interaction of man and social systems with the environment becomes more subtle and complex, where human labor itself acts as an objective process that is naturally interwoven into the general process of interaction between the system and the environment and thereby determines the possible range of future states. In this case, goal settings are formed as a result of this more complex process of interaction between the system and the environment, causing not just goal-oriented, but also goal-oriented behavior of the system.

The study of the phenomena of purposefulness of large and complex systems carried out in the dissertation leads to the conclusion that random factors play a significant role in this area. As in quantum physics, the principle of Laplace causality turns out to be useful here. In decision-making processes, the random factor acts as a generator of alternatives, and the decision-making process itself proceeds in accordance with the laws of “natural” selection.

The dissertation shows the methodological significance of the principle of optimality for organizing the purposeful functioning of large systems. In this regard, the essence of the so-called program-target approach to management, which becomes especially important in a planned economy, is analyzed in detail. The program-target approach is the path on which large economic systems acquire the features of integrity that are so necessary for solving large-scale intersectoral and national problems characteristic of the current era. Large national economic complexes and the national economy as a whole acquire the features of organismism and become purposeful systems, which means a qualitative leap in the development of socio-economic systems, the importance of which is difficult to overestimate and dangerous to underestimate.

The study of the connection between the principle of optimality and the phenomena of homeo-stasis in large systems led to the conclusion that optimality is a unique form of conservation of systems, in which a strict balance is maintained between its input and output characteristics (the principle of equality of costs and results). Violation of optimality leads to a relative decrease in results compared to costs, which means irrational use of resources, their dispersion. All these points are directly reflected in the so-called duality theorems of mathematical programming. The requirement to maintain a balance between the input and output characteristics of systems is, in essence, a functional representation of the principles of conservation in the theory of large systems. In contrast to the physical principles of conservation, which are closely related to theoretical -group properties of the equations of motion of systems, the functional interpretation of conservation laws is associated with optimization methods that in one way or another use duality theorems.

Important methodological results were obtained by analyzing methods for solving high-dimensional optimization problems using the aggregation method. In particular, it was shown that it is impossible to use fully formalized solution algorithms in this case due to a peculiar conflict between the functional and structural approaches to the classification of input and output variables. Ultimately, the difficulties turned out to be related to the principle of complementarity of the structural-functional description characteristic of complex systems. The limitations of both structural and functional reductionism are generally associated with this same principle. The first is characteristic of physics and physicalist approaches in science in general, when they try to deduce the essence of the whole from the knowledge of its parts. Functional reductionism, on the contrary, assumes the ability to explain all the properties of the elements of the system based on knowledge of the integral properties of the system. The limitations of the functional scheme of reductionism were precisely shown by the example of the difficulties of deriving detailed plan-solutions from general plan-solutions by aggregating and disaggregating optimization models.

One more point should be highlighted that emphasizes the importance of the functional approach in modern scientific knowledge. We are talking about the possibility of a functional interpretation of the concepts of space and time. The dissertation attempted to functionally represent space-time relationships in problems of modeling complex systems, which led to certain results of a conceptual nature. Briefly, these results are as follows. In the world of large and complex systems, the concept of space of possibilities as opposed to actual space becomes fundamental. The space of possibilities, on the one hand, acts as a characteristic of uncertainty in the behavior of complex systems, and, on the other hand, provides the basis for mathematical modeling of these systems themselves by identifying the region of permissible states. It is important to emphasize that by treating information as a factor in the transition from the world of possibilities to the world of reality, we have the opportunity to analyze the connection between the phenomenon of information and the functional interpretation of space, identifying the specifics of this interpretation and the essence of the concept of information itself.

From the position of the functional approach, it becomes possible to understand the nature of biological and economic rhythms as a specific feature of temporary processes occurring in large and complex systems. Moreover, it turns out that the speed of the corresponding (biological and economic) clocks characterizes the adaptive abilities of the system, and the uniformity of the speed is a measure of its homeostatic stability.

An important area of ​​application of the methodology of the functional approach is the complex of problems of managing the natural environment. The convergence of the theoretical and empirical levels of knowledge, characteristic of research within the framework of the functional approach in general, in this area becomes so close that in a number of cases we can talk about the coincidence of these levels. It is no coincidence that functional modeling methods are acquiring leading importance not only in the tasks of global environmental forecasting, but also at the level of regional environmental problems. The scale and complexity of environmental problems make it natural to use electronic computers, without which the development of a constructive strategy for the rational use of natural resources would hardly be possible.

The role of the functional approach in social ecology is determined by the very nature of the processes being studied. In particular, the cycle of energy and matter in nature, acting as a specific form of natural balance, is a typical example of a functionally closed system. The dissertation, by way of illustration, provides a specific method for modeling such systems, which could form the basis of the theory of cycles.

Current problem social ecology on modern stage is the programmatic streamlining of ongoing environmental research. The initial methodological position is that the study of large and complex systems itself must represent a large and complex system and, therefore, requires certain efforts of a scientific and organizational nature. It is advisable to develop scientifically based environmental research programs on the basis of the ideas of program-target planning, which fully meets the requirements of the functional approach, and in addition suggests that social ecology as a science differs significantly in its epistemological characteristics from traditionally established branches of knowledge. One of its most important features as a management science is that the identification of its subject area is largely determined by the goals of human activity, and not by the nature of natural phenomena taken in themselves. This circumstance also poses the problem of synthesis of environmental knowledge in a new way. In this regard, the dissertation shows the interdisciplinary significance of the functional approach and develops the concept of functional synthesis of knowledge (as opposed to structural synthesis, characteristic of the processes of theoretical generalization and the formation of the natural sciences of the world). Thus, the functional approach acts not only as a methodological basis for studying the phenomena of integrity and constructing models of large systems, but also as effective remedy, helping to strengthen the factor of integrity in the system of scientific knowledge itself.

The study of the role and significance of the functional approach in modern scientific knowledge, undertaken in the dissertation, cannot be considered complete. In the system of sciences about the management of large systems, the functional approach should rightfully be given a central place, and there is still a lot of work to be done to fully cover the various aspects of the problems associated with this approach. The questions raised in the dissertation outline the path for a wide range of new methodological studies, the need for which is dictated by the relevance of modern scientific problems management, the very practice of communist construction.

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