The cybernetics is the science which is busy
with tho most general questions of control. It is necessary to
make a short historic excursion to comprehend the relation of
cybernetics and politics. A. M. Ampere is generally
known namely as the outstanding physicist. There is already
less known that perhaps the alone Ampere doesn't consider
physics as a first-rate in his scientific activity. Far
intensively, during all his life, he had been busy with the
philosophical-methodological problems. It had flown in years
1838-1843 in the edition of his fundamental work about the
classification of sciences (Essai sur la philosophie des sciences,
ou Exposition analytique d'une classification naturelle de toutes les
connaissances humaines, Paris, Bachelier, 1838).
In the frame of its he adjudged to
political sciences very important place to cybernetics as a
science of control of society. He stressed that this term he
appropriated from ancient Greeks. The Athenians celebrated
yearly the holiday of steermans - cybernesiae - founded by the
alone Theseus. The word - kybernetes - was used for the
marking of steerman, but gradually it obtained the universal
meaning for a man which managed society. This term was also
used by Plato in his works. In the ancient Roma the word
cybernetics had obtained the form of gubernator (governor in
English). The term cybernetica had used in his work Poland
philosopher Trentowski (The relation of philosophy to
cybernetics, or the art how to govern to nation, Poznan, 1843).
In the yers 1925-28 russian physician and philosopher A. A. Bogdanov had
published a large work "The universal organizational science -
tectology", Leningrad-Moskva, Kniga, 1925-28), in which he dealt with
scientific principles of control of society. (It is ironical that
philosophers know name Bogdanov as "a target" of crushing critique
of Lenin in "Materialism and empiriocriticism").
There are introduced also so-called the
system approach to the control of complicated systems. Until
above more than 20 years are published the works of Wiener.
At last Wiener admitted this facts in the introduction of his
book Cybernetics and Society in 1950.
Ampere defines politics as the total science about tools
by help of which governments saves the society and secures the
peace in the inside and national independence outwardly. Also
today is very difficult to imagine the more truth-full
definition of politics. In his classification Ampere includes
cybernetics as a politics in the real sense; as a other part
of politics he defines the theory of power. Cybernetics should
deal, on the base of setting of goals, with the maintaining of
public order, by help of laws, by righteous distribution of
taxis, by the choice of people and by all what can lead to the
improvement of society state. Only due to the deepened and
comparing study of various elements can choose the best
decision. By knowing of all, what is related to the nation, to
the character, habits, opinions, history, to tools of its
existence and development, can the government create the
general rules of dialogue, which are the clues for each
individual case.
Theory of power is closely connected with cybernetics;
investigates the causes which led to establishing of various
governments, which these governments saves or disorganize,
which provoke or prevent to big crises. It is necessary to
study the source of power and judge various systems and
principles which create the basis of power, e.g. law system,
national sovereignty, forces of things or forces of necessity,
apparent or silent treaties among nations. Cybernetics
represents the science about continuous control of state
(nation), which help to government to solve concrete tasks
whereby are respected all conditions and at fulfilling of
general goal - securing of peace. There are very interesting
also connections with system approach.
Prof. Jan Sarnovsky
Department of Cybernetics and Artificial Intelligence
Technical University of Kosice
042 00 Kosice, Letna 9
SLOVAKIA