John Mingers is Professor of Operational Research and Systems at Kent Business School, University of Kent. He is Deputy Director of the business school and Director of Research. He is a past Chair of the UK Systems Society and has been a member of the Council of the OR Society. John Mingers studied Management Sciences for his first degree at Warwick and later completed a Masters in Systems in Management at Lancaster University and a PhD at Warwick. He also worked in industry as a systems analyst and then as an OR analyst.

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• PART 1 FOUNDATIONS  1. Introduction  2. Philosophical Foundations: Critical Realism  3. Systems Thinking and Critical Realism  PART 2 ONTOLOGICAL ISSUES  4. Explanatory Mechanisms  5. Emergence, Generative Powers and Causality  6. Can Social Systems be Autopoietic?  PART 3 EPISTEMOLOGICAL ISSUES  7. Observing Systems: The Question of Boundaries  8. Knowledge and Forms of Truth  PART 4 PRACTICAL ISSUES  9. Methodology: What Might We Do  10.  Ethics: What Should We Do?  11. Conclusion

John Mingers is Professor of Operational Research and Systems at Kent Business School, University of Kent. He is Deputy Director of the business school and Director of Research. He is a past Chair of the UK Systems Society and has been a member of the Council of the OR Society. John Mingers studied Management Sciences for his first degree at Warwick and later completed a Masters in Systems in Management at Lancaster University and a PhD at Warwick. He also worked in industry as a systems analyst and then as an OR analyst.

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• PART 1 FOUNDATIONS  1. Introduction  2. Philosophical Foundations: Critical Realism  3. Systems Thinking and Critical Realism  PART 2 ONTOLOGICAL ISSUES  4. Explanatory Mechanisms  5. Emergence, Generative Powers and Causality  6. Can Social Systems be Autopoietic?  PART 3 EPISTEMOLOGICAL ISSUES  7. Observing Systems: The Question of Boundaries  8. Knowledge and Forms of Truth  PART 4 PRACTICAL ISSUES  9. Methodology: What Might We Do  10.  Ethics: What Should We Do?  11. Conclusion

John Mingers is Professor of Operational Research and Systems at Kent Business School, University of Kent. He is Deputy Director of the business school and Director of Research. He is a past Chair of the UK Systems Society and has been a member of the Council of the OR Society. John Mingers studied Management Sciences for his first degree at Warwick and later completed a Masters in Systems in Management at Lancaster University and a PhD at Warwick. He also worked in industry as a systems analyst and then as an OR analyst.

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• PART 1 FOUNDATIONS  1. Introduction  2. Philosophical Foundations: Critical Realism  3. Systems Thinking and Critical Realism  PART 2 ONTOLOGICAL ISSUES  4. Explanatory Mechanisms  5. Emergence, Generative Powers and Causality  6. Can Social Systems be Autopoietic?  PART 3 EPISTEMOLOGICAL ISSUES  7. Observing Systems: The Question of Boundaries  8. Knowledge and Forms of Truth  PART 4 PRACTICAL ISSUES  9. Methodology: What Might We Do  10.  Ethics: What Should We Do?  11. Conclusion