Complexity, Difference and Identity

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiv

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2. Complexity

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. Difference, Identity and Complexity

      • Paul Cilliers

      Pages 3-18

   3. The Complex “I”: The Formation of Identity in Complex Systems

      • Tanya de Villiers-Botha, Paul Cilliers

      Pages 19-38

3. Difference

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 39-39

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   2. Complexity: The Evolution of Identity and Diversity

      • Peter M. Allen, Mark Strathern, Liz Varga

      Pages 41-60

   3. Comparison, Diversity and Complexity

      • David Byrne

      Pages 61-75

4. Identity

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 77-77

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   2. A Dynamical Approach to Identity and Diversity in Complex Systems

      • John Collier

      Pages 79-93

   3. Negativity, Difference and Critique: The Ethical Moment in Complexity

      • Eduard Grebe

      Pages 95-111

5. Complexity and Ethics

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 113-113

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   2. The Complexity of Difference, Ethics and the Law

      • Wilmien Wicomb

      Pages 115-129

   3. Ethical Complexity

      • Harry Kunneman

      Pages 131-164

6. Ethical Consequences

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 165-165

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   2. Corporate Identity, Responsibility and the Ethics of Complexity

      • Minka Woermann

      Pages 167-191

   3. Business Ethics from Below: Rethinking Organisational Values, Strategy and Trust

      • Hans Müller

      Pages 193-213

   4. Agonistic Engagements: Difference, Meaning and Deliberation in South African Cities

      • Mark Swilling, Pierre Roux, Amélie Guyot

      Pages 215-239

   5. Africa: Globalisation and the Ethical

      • Leonhard Praeg

      Pages 241-264

   6. Unpacking the Ethics of Complexity: Concluding Reflections

      • Rika Preiser, Paul Cilliers

      Pages 265-287

7. Back Matter

   Pages 289-300

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"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.

• Agonistic Engagement
• Anthropology
• Applied Ethics
• Business Ethics
• Comparison
• Complex Systems
• Complexity
• Complexity and Diversity
• Complexity and Organisation
• Complexity and Postmodernism
• Corporate Identity
• Cultural Studies
• Difference
• Difference

• Dept. Philosophy, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa

  Paul Cilliers, Rika Preiser

Policies and ethics