Q u a l i t a t i v e  S t r u c t u r e s  M e t h o d

The notion of wholeness is narrower than the notion of a system. A description of unity in a system is not capable of showing the quality of wholeness, the quality that most defines unity. A part of a unity, unlike an element of a system cannot exist on its own. It can exist only within the unity.

There are instances where parts may exist outside of the unity but there essential meaning is lost. Music is an example of this. A note of music is part of a unity called a movement, itself part of a unity called a composition.

The problem has been faced by philosophers - the problem of describing unity in such a way that its essential quality of wholeness is not lost in the description. Language has a difficult time escaping the bondage of metaphor, especially as it pertains to a description of unity, but unity's final description is partly experienced, therefore not part of the object, which is the province of language, and especially that language which lends itself to description. This task is most relevant in such branches of science as psychology, sociology, ethnology and ecology.

Development of a method that would allow us to describe unity without destroying it, emerged from works of Y. Lotman and M. Bakhtin.

The works of these two scientists pay due regard to the problem of preserving the unity.

The main difficulty lies in the requirement that describing any arbitrary part of the unity we must preserve the description of the unity itself.

In order to preserve the totality of the unity with regard to its parts, the sought description must present an ability to examine any part through its relations with the unity. On the other hand, the existence of a part in the unity by itself, also possess the quality of totality. Thus, the totality of the unity is expressed through the totality of the existence of its parts. In other words, all the principles: "everything in everything", "everything in unity", "unity in everything" and "unity in unity" must be satisfied.

To solve these problem we use something called Qualitative Structures Method. It allows unity to remain in its wholeness in the process of inner and outer development.

In philosophy such an aspect is known as the category of quality. "Quality is an essential determinant of an object, in virtue of which this object exists as this, but not another object, and, in virtue of which this object differs from other objects. Quality of an object cannot be reduced to its specific features. It is connected with an object as a unity, it covers it as a whole, and is inseparable from this object.

By considering the object from the point of view of its qualitative determinacy, we immediately consider this object as a unity, which is totally present both in its inner and its outer existence. In other words, totality is an essential quality of unity.

It is natural to suppose that the totality of existence is settled by the following aspects:

1. Totality of outer existence - functioning aspect
2. Totality of existence of the part in the whole - organizational aspect
3. Totality of qualitative determinacy of the whole as of unity between inner and outer existence - coordinating aspect
4. Totality of existence of the whole as particular in the universal - connection aspect.

By considering the above defined four aspects together we can elucidate the structure of the quality as such, that is, we can formulate the principles by which the qualitative determinacy of any specific unity can be examined.

1. Coordinating aspect. This aspect answers the question: "Does the examined volume represent the unity?" Therefore, the coordinating aspect is the expression of the unity principle, or, of totality). In this context, a coordinating aspect may be correlated with an object-nexus in the integral ideal object as defined by Smirnov. A kind of object that cannot be represented as a discrete structure is encountered in various branches of science, such as the notion of "continuity" by Nalimov, notion of "archetype" by Jung, notion of "monad" by Leibnitz. We propose to stress the principal indivisibility of the coordinating aspect by introducing a notion of Coordinator Point (CP).
2. Functioning Aspect, FA. This aspect answers the question: "How the unity becomes apparent and acts in the outer world?" The aspect includes various qualities and properties of the object, ways of its use, what this object produces, and what means for information output it uses.
3. Organizational Aspect, OA. OA answers the question: "How the unity is organized?" The subject here is the design of the object. The unity is considered as a system with the defined structure and known properties of its parts. OA may also contain knowledge about the properties and relations of the sub-systems that belong to the examined object.
4. Connection Aspect, CA. CA answers the question: "How the singled-out unity is connected with the surrounding environment?" We will lump under the term "connection" the sum-total of all affects of the environment on the unity that exist in the space in which this unity was singled out of the background as an object.

The connections between the above defined aspects of existence of the unity, that define the qualitative determinacy may be represented by the following figure:

Now let us consider each pair of the aspects, so that we can further define the semantical field of the proposed structure:

1. Coordination - organization. The aspects, in the mutual complement, describe the inner existence of the unity.
2. Functioning - connection. Describe the outer existence of the unity.
3. Coordination - functioning. Describe the qualitative determinacy of the object.
4. Connection - organization. Describe the totality of existence of the part as a whole, and the totality of existence of the whole as a part.
5. Coordination - connection. Describe, in the mutual complement, the qualitative determinacy of the interaction of the object with the environment.
6. Functioning - organization. Provide, in the mutual complement, the description of development dynamics of the object, the dynamics of stability and volatility of its existence.

The selected four aspects are all fundamentally equal. And, reflecting the existence of the unity from different sides, yet they do not create any hierarchy or hidden subordination. It is a closed set in which anything is defined through everything and is contained in everything.

The aspects square
(diagram for contemplation)

QSM is a Heuristic method of examining any object that may be thought of as a unity. On the other hand, by manifesting the structure of the category of quality itself, this method is also a means for describing the existence of a unity, both from epistemological and ontological sides of the argument.

The further development of the method is associated with the research of the unity development dynamics through the notion of "relative strength" of the aspects.