The contents of this book are derived from the Heinz Werner Inaugural Lectures presented by the author at Clark University in January 1966. The original lectures as delivered are published by the Clark University Press. The author has modified, expanded, and incorporated other published material in this monograph. As a result the reader has an opportunity to learn the essence of Von Bertalanffy ideas about general systems theory presented in concise, crisp, and easily understandable language.
Part 1 deals with the organistic concept of psychology and biology, in short, reductionism which the author terms the "robot model of man." The stimulus response scheme and the primary reactivity of the psychophysiological organism constitutes the essential framework of the model. With much fervor the author derives the zoomorphic fallacy in modern psychology which destroys the concepts of man as an evolutionary product set