A reading of Alexander Bogdanov in times of crisis

Abstract

AbstractReading Bogdanov today can surprise us with the relevance of his work, the coincidence of some of his ideas with contemporary thought and the productivity of his approaches. Systems thinking, with its capacity to engage with diverse areas, including science and philosophy, is an appropriate avenue for approaching some of our present global problems. I attempt in this article to highlight key ideas and observations from Bogdanov along a line demarcated by some critical thinkers including G. K Chesterton and S. Žižek. This dialogue can illuminate useful paths in our times of crisis: I highlight some commonalities in the organisational tendency urgently suggested by our circumstances and proposed in different manners; I then propose to rekindle the idea of scientific organisation of experience and the formulation of some questions around our dynamic equilibrium/disequilibrium with nature, by using Tektology concepts. Lastly I pose the case for systematically studying human excess.