Dealing with a differentiated whole: The philosophy of the WSR approach

This paper seeks to explore a philosophical ground for the formulation and practice of an Oriental systems methodology, the wuli-shili-renli approach (WSR). Drawing insights from ancient Chinese thought, WSR contends that, in sociotechnical systems design/management, we should investigate and follow wuli, shili, and renli, which constitute a differentiable, dynamic whole. Wuli, shili, and renli condition and determine the fate of our projects, me aning different methods are needed to deal with each differentiable aspect. It also points out that, to deal with Huli, shili, and renli properly, we need to engage in encounters with the "dark side" of Confucianism and with the contemporary tendency of scientism.