“What in the whole denotes a causal equilibrium process, appears for the part as a teleological event.”
Bertalanffy (1929, p. 306) cited in: Cliff Hooker ed. (2011) Philosophy of Complex Systems. p. 190
1920s
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Ludwig von Bertalanffy 65
austrian biologist and philosopher 1901–1972Related quotes
Source: "Attribution theory in social psychology." 1967, p. 193

Source: Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle (1960), p. 5
Context: We Shall Naturally look round in vain the macrophysical world for acausal events, for the simple reason that we cannot imagine events that are connected non-causally and are capable of a non-causal explanation. But that does not mean that such events do not exist... The so-called "scientific view of the world" based on this can hardly be anything more than a psychologically biased partial view which misses out all those by no means unimportant aspects that cannot be grasped statistically.

Source: Man on His Own: Essays in the Philosophy of Religion (1959), p. 142

“Know that however ugly the parts appear
the whole remains beautiful.”
"The Answer" (1936)
Context: Know that however ugly the parts appear
the whole remains beautiful. A severed hand
Is an ugly thing and man dissevered from the earth and stars
and his history... for contemplation or in fact...
Often appears atrociously ugly. Integrity is wholeness,
the greatest beauty is
Organic wholeness, the wholeness of life and things, the divine beauty
of the universe. Love that, not man
Apart from that, or else you will share man's pitiful confusions,
or drown in despair when his days darken.
“Why should it not be the whole function of a word to denote many things?”
Source: Philosophical Papers (1979), p. 38.

Source: Introduction to Systems Philosophy (1972), p. 14.

Academy of Achievement interview (1991)
Context: I speak about universal evolution and teleological evolution, because I think the process of evolution reflects the wisdom of nature. I see the need for wisdom to become operative. We need to try to put all of these things together in what I call an evolutionary philosophy of our time.