Exploring the conceptual and practical affordances of duality and dualism – Ison (2024)

h/t David Ing

Ison, R. L. (2024). Exploring the conceptual and practical affordances of duality and dualism. In: Reyes, A. and Perko, I. eds. Addressing challenges of an uncertain world: A CyberSystemic approach. Ibagué, Colombia: Ediciones Unibagué, pp. 335–364.

URL: https://repositorio.unibague.edu.co/entities/publi…

Abstract

The concepts of dualism and duality concern the nature and/or quality of relationship at the heart of ‘either/or’ or ‘both/and’ distinctions, in any pairing such as predator/prey, mind/body or subjective/objective. This chapter, framed as a systemic inquiry, is written to celebrate the contributions of Raul Espejo to cybersystemic praxis. This inquiry arises because of the overinvestment in the pursuit and use of dualisms at the expense of dualities; it concerns how two key concepts within the cybersystemic lexicon are used (and perhaps abused) in the conduct of situated, embodied practice. As a cybersystemic educator and a designer of learning systems, there is a need to appreciate how each concept is performable as in a performer living their choreography. The main inquiry question is: How does an aware STiP (systems thinking in practice) practitioner practice to deframe dualisms and offer or enact reframings as dualities? In response the case for a cybersystemic praxeology is made, drawing on the design and enactment of learning systems within the stip postgraduate program (for mature students) at the Open University (UK).