Intro
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TO THE READER
Who is this book for?
What is the central idea of this book?
How is this book organized?
Why does this book have a complicated structure?
Different possible sequences to read this book
On the parallel structures of Essay and Notes
Some personal information
Part I. ESSAY: Ontology of Problems
1.1 Synchronics (Being)
1.2 Diachronics (Becoming)
Chapter 1 Being and Becoming
1.1 Synchronics (Being)
1.1.1 Wholeness
1.1.2 Constraint
1.1.3 Distinction
1.1.4 Persistence
1.1.5 Identity
1.1.6 Agency

1.1.6.1 Texture
1.1.6.2 Other Systems
1.1.6.3 Embeddedness
1.1.7 Complexity
1.1.7.1 Networks
1.1.7.2 Hierarchies
1.1.8 Cognition
1.1.9 Summary
1.2 Diachronics (Becoming)
1.2.1 Origin
1.2.2 Development
1.2.3 Limitation
1.2.4 Complexification
1.2.4.1 Segregation
1.2.4.2 Systematization
1.2.5 Internal opposition
1.2.6 Texture
1.2.7 Other systems
1.2.8 Embeddedness
1.2.9 Impermanence
Part II. COMMENTARY: Recovery of Coherence
Chapter 2 An exact and scientific metaphysics
2.1 The illusion of the fundamental

2.2 The systems alternative
2.3 A new conception of metaphysics
2.4 The epistemological niche of systems theories
2.5 Theories and models
the idea of "system"
Chapter 3 Concepts and categories
3.1 Substance and form
3.1.1 A "stuff-free" metaphysics
3.1.2 Concrete, abstracted, and conceptual systems
3.2 Matter, energy, information
utility
3.2.1 Matter, energy, and information
3.2.2 Utility
3.3 Isomorphism and emergence
3.4 Aspects of complexity and holism
3.5 Structure, function, and history
3.5.1 Structure and function
3.5.2 Adding history

Chapter 4 Related fields
4.1 Not just mathematics
4.2 The relevance of physics
4.2.1 Thermodynamics and statistical mechanics
4.2.2 Quantum mechanics
4.2.3 Other theories in physics
4.3 The centrality of biology
4.4 Sciences of the artificial
4.5 Systems theory and systems analysis
Chapter 5 The challenge of integration
5.1 No singular systems theory
5.2 Hierarchy of system types
5.3 Categories of complexity
5.4 Ontology of problems
5.5 Metaphysician's desk manual
Chapter 6 Science, religion, politics
6.1 A macro-historical model

6.1.1 A model of diachronic processes
6.1.2 The model applied to history
6.1.3 On the inescapability of grand narratives
6.2 The new science
6.2.1 A supplementing process
6.2.2 Understanding what we know
6.2.3 Fact and value
6.2.4 Horizons
6.2.5 Personal knowledge
6.3 Natural religion
6.3.1 Secular Theodicy
6.3.2 Metaphysics, a bridge to religion
6.3.3 Inner science
6.3.4 Revisiting the historical model
6.4 Fixing the world
6.4.1 Sustainability and globalization
6.4.2 Modernization as differentiation systems