Story of the Discovery
Simple Origins
Following an awareness of the significance of hierarchical frameworks in , , and , I investigated . My starting point was a 5-level hierarchy that had been developed by a colleague, Jimmy Algie, in Social Values Objectives and Action (1974). With a few modifications and adjustment to naming, a paper was submitted to Systems Research and published in 1986. Structural conjectures suggested there had to be two higher levels of purpose that were «pure value» in the sense that they floated above activities. These findings were presented at a Systems Science Conference in 1988.
Emergent Complexity
Around that time, I commenced work on the systems that were assumed to be a special form of structurally corresponding to the and . It soon was evident that these were about . I had also commenced the articulation of a structural hierarchy in the and it seemed likely that something similar would apply to the .
The Book Idea
At this point, I concluded that my papers, notes and diagrams were insufficient and I needed to devote myself to a detailed book-length account of . I had little to guide me and there was no plan for the book. The two initial papers became Chs. 3 & 4. As these were written up, the social aspect of became more apparent, leading to Ch. 5 dealing with . Ch. 6 developed . At that time, I lacked experience with the Typology Essentials Table and the Spiral that emerges from it. So that aspect was not developed—it had to wait 20 years until I came to post on this website.
Ethics in Centre Stage
However, in clarifying the , I quickly saw that there were different and that these might or must draw on the different . In working out the details I became confused by the way most writers and psychologists talked about «morality».
It took a while to discern that any society spontaneously seeks to control things like the way its members handle sexuality and what status differentials are required—and then assert that its idiosyncratic choices are "right" and even "good" i.e. ethical. I was able then to recognize seven whose basis could be found in . The breakthrough was recognizing that these social institutions had a characteristic type of and used the other rule-types cumulatively.
So Ch. 7 explained the and their associated types of rule. Ch. 8 then provided an account of the nature of those . Ch. 9 developed the structural hierarchy which defined society's . These authorities provide what individual members and communities need to develop and sustain an order that can be termed ethical.
Purpose Returns
I then returned to and saw that the structural hierarchy provided the elements for within any . The lower four groupings described in Ch. 10 are the building blocks of a social order. The control of those tools is provided by the upper three groupings described in Ch. 12.
One feature that pre-occupied me through writing was the difference between communities and organizations. Ch. 11 was a chance to bring these concerns together because it became apparent that the four , the Tetrads, corresponded to four , and there were six other types which were combinations of these four. I am unaware of any other comparable comprehensive and meaningful classification.
I was becoming aware of the various sorts of dualities during the writing of the book, and this led to clarifying the in Ch. 13.
End = Beginning
At the same time, I realized that there were additional related frameworks to be developed. I had inadvertently stumbled into some vast taxonomy. If I tackled them in the book, the publication date would extend indefinitely. So I simply decided to stop writing: except to provide an introduction as Chs. 1 & 2, and a reflective conclusion as Ch. 14.
Further Studies of PurposeOriginally posted: 1-Mar-2013