Reflexive Social Science and Endogenous Control Theory

Abstract

I present an approach to social science where the controller or social theory is part of the system pointing to the need to go beyond quantum mechanics. This change of point of view from the outside to the inside of social systems implies the need to cope with reflexive mathematical structures where the Russell paradox is one instantiation now modelled by coalgebras in theoretical computer science. I discuss a biological model of living systems generalizing autopoiesis as the core of the reflexive approach to capture the organizational closure of firms or organizations of any kind which maintain an own model of themselves. In the second part I sketch long standing mostly reflexive key problems in economic modelling approachable with categorical, domain theoretical and coalgebraic tools. The presentation is meant as an outline of a research agenda in need of collaboration of mathematics, computer science, biology, economics, sociology and philosophy where the goal is to overcome the mechanistic analogies from physics towards nonreductionism for social theories and thus realities.