Martin Zwick
Sept. 24, 1999
Mr. George Soros
Open Society Institute
400 West 59th St., floor 4
New York, NY 10019
Dear Mr. Soros,
I would like to bring to your attention some systems-theoretic ideas which are relevant to the point of view you present in The Crisis of Global Capitalism. From my perspective, your book, especially Part I: Conceptual Framework, is in both orientation and content an essay in “systems theory.” My connection to what you have written is still more direct. I’m working on a book which integrates systems ideas and theories around the theme of “imperfection.” This is close to the centrality of “fallibility” in your framework, since “imperfection” is to ontology what “fallibility” is to epistemology.
I want to do three things in this letter: A. discuss the relationship between a focus on “fallibility” and one on “imperfection” (and argue for the latter); B. share some thoughts about the “open society” idea; and C. take up additional technical matters (beyond those covered in A and B).