PUNCTUAL STUDIES OF THE CONCEPT OF METHOD AND THEORY IN EDGAR MORIN’S PARADIGM OF COMPLEXITY

Abstract

This paper is the partial result of an investigation into the French philosopher Edgar Morin’s notion of method, mainly the one found in his book Method 1: the Nature of Nature. This unfinished study aims at posing questions and reviewing contributions given to the precise understanding of the philosopher’s concept of method, which can be found in several books, conferences, papers, and mainly in the volumes of Method. The notion of method is perceived as a concept guided by the paradigm of complexity, i. e., as a concept which represents experiences between what is experienced and what is reflected on, between the investigator and the object under investigation in reciprocal interaction. This relation comprises the discovery (theory) and the way of the discovery (method) of knowledge, or rather, the new, the original, the unexpected. Therefore, the way, the act of walking, and the walker become a comprehensive unit, logically and dialogically, as metaphors in which the method is understood through complexity and which takes into account the concept of theory as well.