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Philosophical Frameworks
for Understanding
Information Systems
Andrew Basden, Unversty of Salford, UK

IGIP
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Hershey • New York


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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Basden, Andrew, 1948-

Philosophical frameworks for understanding information systems / Andrew Basden, author.
p. cm.
Summary: "There are five main areas in which humans relate to information and communications technol-
ogy: the nature of computers and information, the creation of information technologies, the development of
artifacts for human use, the usage of information systems, and IT as our environment. This book strives to
develop philosophical frameworks for these areas"--Provided by publisher.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-59904-036-3 (hardcover) -- ISBN 978-1-59904-038-7 (ebook)
1. Technology--Philosophy. 2. Technology--Social aspects. 3. System theory. I. Title.
T14.B3625 2007
303.48'33--dc22
2007024491

British Cataloguing in Publication Data

A Cataloguing in Publication record for this book is available from the British Library.

All work contributed to this book is new, previously-unpublished material. The views expressed in this book
are those of the authors, but not necessarily of the publisher.
 

Philosophical Frameworks
for Understanding
Information Systems

Table of Contents

Preface............................................................................................................... vi

Acknowledgment.......................................................................................... xviii

Chapter.I..Introduction.................................................................................... 1
1.1 Information Systems: What are We Trying to Understand? ............... 4
1.2 Understanding .................................................................................... 7
1.3 Frameworks ......................................................................................11
1.4 Philosophy ........................................................................................ 16
1.5 Our Approach ................................................................................... 26
References .............................................................................................. 28
Endnote .................................................................................................. 30

Section.I:.Dooyeweerd’s.Philosophy

Chapter.II..Overview.of.Dooyeweerd’s.Philosophy..................................... 32
2.1 Dooyeweerd’s Approach to Philosophy............................................ 33
2.2 Dooyeweerd’s Critical Approach ..................................................... 34
2.3 The Religious Root of Philosophical Thought ................................. 37
2.4 The Different Flavour of Dooyeweerd’s Approach .......................... 47
2.5 Conclusion ....................................................................................... 58
References .............................................................................................. 60
Endnote .................................................................................................. 61
v

Chapter.III..Some.Portions.of.Dooyeweerd’s.Positive.Philosophy............. 62
3.1 Dooyeweerd’s Theory of Modal Aspects .......................................... 62
3.2 Things ............................................................................................... 80
3.3 Experience, Knowledge, and Assumptions....................................... 89
3.4 Human Life ..................................................................................... 102
3.5 Critique of Dooyeweerd ..................................................................112
3.6 Conclusion ......................................................................................115
References .............................................................................................116

Section.II:.Frameworks.for.Understanding

Chapter.IV..A.Framework.for.Understanding.Human.Use.of.
Computers..................................................................................................... 120
4.1 Towards an Everyday Understanding of IS Use ............................ 121
4.2 Computer Use as Multi-Aspectual Human Functioning ................ 127
4.3 The Structure of Human-Computer Relationships ......................... 137
4.4 The Normativity of Computer Use ................................................. 146
4.5 Practical Devices ........................................................................... 153
4.6 Relating to Extant Frameworks ..................................................... 158
4.7 Conclusion ..................................................................................... 169
References ............................................................................................ 171

Chapter.V..A.Framework.for.Understanding.the.Nature.of.Computers
and.Information............................................................................................ 174
5.1 What is Meant by “What is” .......................................................... 175
5.2 A Dooyeweerdian Approach to the Nature of Computers .............. 180
5.3 Information and Program .............................................................. 192
5.4 Computer System Levels ................................................................ 200
5.5 Computers and Human Beings ...................................................... 207
5.6 Conclusion ..................................................................................... 220
References ............................................................................................ 222

Chapter.VI..A.Framework.for.Understanding.Information.Systems
Development.................................................................................................. 224
6.1 Approaches to ISD ......................................................................... 225
6.2 ISD as Multi-Aspectual Human Activity ........................................ 234
6.3 The Overall ISD Process ................................................................ 235
6.4 Anticipating Use ............................................................................. 240
6.5 Creating the IS ............................................................................... 244
6.6 Encapsulating Knowledge.............................................................. 247
6.7 Practical Devices ........................................................................... 253
6.8 Enriching SSM ............................................................................... 256
6.9 Conclusion ..................................................................................... 259
References ............................................................................................ 260
 v

Chapter.VII..A.Framework.for.Understanding.Information.Technology
Resources....................................................................................................... 265
7.1 Influences on Design of IT Resources ............................................ 266
7.2 Semi-Manufactured Products ......................................................... 272
7.3 Aspectual Design of IT Resources .................................................. 277
7.4 Integration ...................................................................................... 284
7.5 Relating to Extant Discourse ......................................................... 289
7.6 Conclusion ..................................................................................... 303
References ............................................................................................ 306

Chapter.VIII..A.Framework.for.Understanding.Information.Technology
as.Ecology...................................................................................................... 309
8.1 On the Validity and Destiny of Information Technology .................311
8.2 Information Technology as Ecology............................................... 316
8.3 Absolutization and Idolatry in IT ................................................... 322
8.4 Conclusion ..................................................................................... 334
References ............................................................................................ 336

Section.III:.Discussion.and.Conclusion

Chapter IX. Reflections................................................................................ 339

9.1 Overview of the Frameworks ......................................................... 340
9.2 Reflections on the Frameworks ...................................................... 347
9.3 On Using Dooyeweerd ................................................................... 352
9.4 Reflections on the Process .............................................................. 362
9.5 The Future ...................................................................................... 370
References ............................................................................................ 371

Glossary.and.Abbreviations......................................................................... 373

About.the.Author.......................................................................................... 383

Index.. ............................................................................................................. 384

v

Preface

The aim of this book is to introduce a different way of looking at IT and IS (infor-
mation technology, information systems), and to suggest some tools to help us do
this. The tools derive from philosophy but are orientated to everyday experience
of IT and IS.
Those tools will be applied to five areas of research and practice in IT/IS. Allow me
to explain, by way of five personal, autobiographical vignettes, what has motivated
my involvement in IT/IS and why philosophy is important. This will give a feeling
for how this book approaches the seemingly rather heavy topic of ‘Philosophical
Frameworks for Understanding Information Systems’.

Vignette.1..The.Diversity.of.the.World.

Working with computer applications in computer-aided design, the health sector,

the chemical industry and the surveying profession from 1970 to 1987 it seemed to
me that there were four irreducibly different ‘aspects of knowledge’ that needed to
be encapsulated in computer programs or knowledge bases:

1. Items and relationships, such as patients and problems that each patient might
have
 v

2. Quantitative and qualitative values, such as the strength of dose of a drug, the
date when a problem started, the name of the problem
3. Spatiality, such as proximity to infection
4. Change: events and processes, such as accidents and healing

Each of these aspects of knowledge seemed to deserve a different fundamental ap-

proach to representing them, otherwise programming errors would increase. But
I doubted whether I had the full set of such aspects, so I sought a fuller set after
returning to academic life as a lecturer in 1987.
I did not find one. Most of my colleagues in computer science and artificial intelli-
gence assumed that standard computer languages like C or PROLOG were sufficient:
so what’s my problem? At the other extreme were those who, like a professor who
knew some philosophy and whom I approached with the question of what ‘the’ cor-
rect set of aspects is, replied “There aren’t any, they are socially constructed.”
Perhaps because of mild Asperger’s Syndrome, I could not accept this. Even though
I agreed that that human beings do socially construct their categories, I also believed
that there is a reality that transcends us and cannot be socially constructed, and that
aspects of knowledge were part of that. Privately, I was still curious, and continued
to ponder these aspects of knowledge—what aspects there might be, how to distin-
guish them, how to implement knowledge representation formalisms in computer
terms based on each, and the question that underlies these: what aspects as such
are. Eventually I expressed these ideas in Basden (1993).
I had always taken an everyday, lifeworld attitude and was a little wary of theorizing,
whether of a rationalist, positivist, social constructivist or any other kind. Though
I did not realise it at the time, my difficulties related to philosophy: the radical dif-
ference between the everyday and the theoretical attitudes of thought and the need
to integrate ontology with epistemology. Not until I found a philosophy that treated
the everyday attitude with due respect and did not force me into either social con-
structivism or positivism or naïve realism, did I find an answer that satisfied me.

Vignette.2..Usefulness

Working in the UK chemical industry in the early 1980s, I had a manager who had
been given a top-of-the-range PC with the latest software. He found it easy to use,
but I remember him standing in his office and asking, “But what the heck do I use
it for?” Of course nobody would ask that today. But it cemented into my mind the
difference between usability (and other technical qualities) on one hand and useful-
v

ness on the other—a difference I had felt for the decade before but not expressed
clearly. Basden (1983) began to express these issues.
Over the next dozen years, I experienced a succession of new technologies from
within—knowledge based systems (KBS), multimedia and virtual reality—all of
which failed to develop their expected potential. This was not because of any lack of
technical excellence but because of too little attention given to usefulness. Usefulness
seemed to me a crucial issue in the human factors and knowledge-based systems
(KBS) communities. Yet it did not enter their academic debates and most research-
ers responded with “So what!” Our paper on it (Castell, Basden, Erdos, Barrows,
& Brandon, 1992), though it received an award, elicited no general response.
Suddenly, in reaction to such books as Thomas Landauer’s (1996) The Trouble With
Computers usefulness came onto the agenda. But the debate leapt straight from “So
what!” to “I have the solution to ensure usefulness.” The intervening stage of trying
to understand what usefulness is was bypassed.
What is usefulness? Why is it that some information systems seem to bring both
beneficial and detrimental impact, often to different stakeholders? Which stakehold-
ers are important? How do we address unanticipated impacts (whether beneficial or
detrimental)? What about longer-term impacts? How can we design for usefulness,
predict usefulness, evaluate usefulness? In short, how do we differentiate success
from failure?
To address such issues demands a way of understanding that recognises dynamic
diversity and also has a strong basis for differentiating right from wrong (benefit
from detriment). Objectivist approaches like cost-benefit analysis are too narrow
while subjectivist approaches cannot cope with unanticipated impacts, especially
of the long-term variety, nor can they differentiate benefit from detriment. Just like
knowledge representation, usefulness and the success or failure of IS demands an
everyday rather than theoretical approach.
During that period I became an avid player of computer games, both personal games
like Moria, ZAngband and The Settlers, and MUDs (multi-user dungeons) on the
Internet. Real playability is like usefulness, depending more on content, story and
humour than on technical issues like user interface or graphics. So I wanted to find
an understanding of usefulness that was not restricted to work life and organisational
use but can address the types of issues encountered in all kinds of computer use.
I discovered that the philosophy I referred to above provides a basis for understanding
dynamic diversity, has a strong basis for differentiating right from wrong (normativ-
ity) and allowed me to go beyond work applications. It transcends objectivism and
subjectivism. It was in regard to use of IS that I first found it immensely practical
in application, so much so that I have perhaps been captivated by it ever since.
 x

Vignette.3..Knowledge.Elicitation.and......................
IS.Development.

I have always enjoyed programming computers. It is creative. What I produce can

be elegant and beautiful, as well as doing some good. Developing KBSs, which
involves knowledge elicitation, expanded programming to include the challenge of
getting to grips with knowledge in all its diversity and coherence.
Knowledge elicitation involves interviewing experts in a field to obtain some of their
knowledge with which to construct the KBS. But I found that, rather then taking
the conventional approach at the time of eliciting heuristics (rules of thumb that are
actually used in practical expertise), better results are obtained by separating the
general ‘understanding’ and ‘laws’ underlying the heuristics from the contextual
and personal factors.
Moreover, the expert is not just a source of knowledge but a human being, whose
expertise is part of who s/he is as a person, so knowledge elicitation is not merely
knowledge transfer but involves an intimate relationship of mutual trust and respect,
in which the experts feel free to open up.
These two approaches to knowledge elicitation was, in retrospect, one reason for
what was an embarrassingly high success rate in developing KBSs. But could it
be transferred to others? I wanted to understand why seeking ‘understanding’ and
developing a relationship of trust led to success. Again, philosophy was called for.
The strategy of seeking ‘understanding’ presupposes there is in fact something to
understand that we have a hope of finding. Subjectivism would say there is nothing,
ultimately, ‘out there’ to understand. Objectivism might allow ‘out there’ but im-
mediately tries to reduce understanding of it to logic, especially that of the natural
sciences. We (Attarwala & Basden, 1985) rejected both, but at the time we had no
philosophical basis for doing so. Now, it appears, the philosophy that helped me
understand aspects of knowledge and usefulness can also help here.
From the mid 1980s I had to raise my sight above knowledge elicitation to the
wider project that is IS development (ISD). While software engineering methods
were becoming increasingly structured in the 1970s and 1980s—analyse, specify,
design, implement, test: all aiming for automated, formal proofs of a program’s
correctness—my own practical development went in the opposite direction because
the domains for which I developed KBSs, databases, etc.—medical patients, stress
corrosion cracking in stainless steel, agricultural planning, business strategy, budget-
setting in the construction industry—were ill-structured. No prior specification could
be drawn up since the very activity of implementation reveals new knowledge and
stimulates users to change their minds about what they want. So we developed our
own ‘client centred methodology’ (Basden, Watson, & Brandon, 1995).
Of course, I was not alone in finding these characteristics of the process of develop-
ment. But where our approach differed lay firstly in its key notion of responsibility,
x

not just to the ‘customer’ but to all stakeholders, to the community and society,
to the future, to the domain of application, to the nature of reality itself, and even
(some would add) to God. Secondly, it lay in its sensitivity to everyday life of the
application, the stakeholders and the entire ISD team. Though until the mid 1990s I
did not attempt a philosophical understanding, it now transpires that the philosophy
I found so helpful in the first two areas above is helpful in this area too.

Vignette.4..Nature.of.Computers

When I read Allen Newell’s paper The Knowledge Level soon after it was published
in 1982, I immediately thought, “Yes!” It put into concepts and words what I had
intuitively held to be so: that there is a fundamental difference between symbols of
our computer programs, databases or KBSs and the knowledge they ‘hold’ as their
content. From a study of citations of this paper over the next 20 years, it seems
that many others found the same intuitive agreement. The Knowledge Level freed
a whole generation of us who worked in the AI and HCI (artificial intelligence, hu-
man computer interaction) fields to talk about computer systems at ‘the knowledge
level’, in terms of their content, independently of how it is represented in symbols
and their manipulations.
But Newell had in fact taken us further. He argued that the symbol and knowledge
levels were just two in a sequence of levels at which computer systems may be
described—the physics, the electronics, the digital signals and bits, the symbols
and the knowledge. (Later, several of us added a sixth level, variously called tacit
or social.) Thus Newell proposed in effect a multi-level understanding of the nature
of computers. I have used it as an educational tool to separate out distinct types of
issues in HCI, KBS, multimedia, virtual reality; my students find it very useful.
Newell tried to ground the knowledge-symbol difference in philosophy but not very
successfully (see Chapter V), and he merely assumed the other levels. However he
made a curious philosophical claim that few have noticed:

Computer system levels really exist, as much as anything exists. They are not just a
point of view. Thus, to claim that the knowledge level exists is to make a scientific
claim, which can range from dead wrong to slightly askew, in the manner of all
scientific claims. (Newell, 1982, p. 99)

This is a strong ontological claim. But on what basis could he be right? And if
someone else suggests a new level (as for example I did with a ‘tacit level’) on
what basis do we judge the candidate new level? Yet again, the very philosophy I
found helpful in the three other areas is one that is able to provide a philosophical
 x

underpinning for Newell’s levels. More: it can throw new light on the AI question
of whether a computer can ‘think’.

Vignette.5..The.Information.Society

What damage will IT wreak on humanity and the wider environment? Or what
good? That is, how do we understand what has been called the information society?
It is too early to tell. Not many predicted climate change from cars and planes until
recently. If we cannot predict ‘scientifically’ what the real problems of IT will be,
maybe we can at least take note of the ethical dimension? For example, is it not true
that selfishness and self-interest mainly bring problems (refer to business writers
since the year 2000)? So, maybe humanity’s development of IT could be guided
by eschewing self-interest, rather than by seeking ‘scientific’ attempts to plan it or
by assuming that we can continue to please ourselves?
On a personal note, I have worked in the green movement for many years. For me
green activism followed, and was a result of, my conversion to Christ and a filling
with the Holy Spirit around 1970. Over the years I have become convinced that what
has needlessly driven us towards destruction of the earth is not just big business
nor a conspiracy, but our idolatrous world-view and self-centred attitudes, which
pervade every aspect of the way we live and do business. It even pervades the way
we carry out research. The root of our problem is ‘religious’, even while at the same
time there are economic and political factors at work. Those in the feminist and
anti-globalisation movements know this very well (though they usually use terms
other than ‘religious’). I use the word ‘religious’ rather widely, almost as a synonym
for ‘ideological’; see Chapter II.
Likewise, when we take a societal, global perspective on IT, a ‘religious’ aspect is
inescapable, both for those involved in the practice of the area and for the content
of our theories. To understand the issues in this area, I wanted an approach that
acknowledges religious commitments and presuppositions, not only in humanity as
studied but also in we who study it. Lo! I found that the philosophy that helped me
so much in the four other areas acknowledges and opens up religious issues.

‘The.Whole.Story’

Each vignette indicates a distinct area of research and practice in IT/IS in which I
have been involved. In each, a particular issue emerged:
x

• Vignette.1:.The diversity of meaningful reality that we want to represent or

model in computers
• Vignette. 2:. Everyday diverse normativity and repercussions of computer
use
• Vignette.3:.Responsibility to both those we work with and to a diverse reality
that transcends us and yet which we can understand
• Vignette.4:.The multi-level nature of computers
• Vignette.5:.Religious root of IT, of those who practise and research it, and of
society

Each indicated the need for philosophy—and that one philosophy in particular has
been useful to the author.
Because I have been intimately involved in all these areas, I have tended to see them
as closely related to each other, to form what we might call ‘the whole story that is
information technology’. Almost from the start, when programming for my PhD in
the 1970s, I would try to reach beyond my immediate area and feel for the others.
In the everyday ‘whole story’, the areas interweave and while we may conceptually
distinguish them, we need a way of understanding each area that acknowledges the
others. Yet in each, a different community of practice has developed, a different
research agenda and way of thinking and different research communities, which
seldom speak to or understand each other. What each finds meaningful the others find
meaningless. As I argue in Chapter I, this is why philosophy is needed: philosophy
not only helps us understand the issues in each area, but it is the discipline that al-
lows us to acknowledge a variety of spheres of meaning in relation to each other.
Unfortunately, I did not find any philosophy that was on offer either useful or attrac-
tive. Ancient Greek thinking opposed form and matter. Mediaeval thinking opposed
the sacred and secular. Modern thinking opposes control and freedom, being and
norms, thing and thought, subject and object. Or it tries to think them together in
ways that ultimately are arbitrary.
Throughout the vignettes, I have mentioned a philosophy that has helped me in
each area. It is the philosophy of the late Herman Dooyeweerd, a mid-20th century
Dutch thinker. It manages to integrate form with matter, sacred with secular, con-
trol with freedom, being with norms, thought with thing, and subject with object
in a way that does not denature any of them and yet is not arbitrary. At the same
time it deliberately takes an everyday attitude even while it also acknowledges
and welcomes the results of scientific work. The reason it can integrate things we
have long assumed to be incompatible is because Dooyeweerd questioned the most
fundamental presuppositions that have lain at the roots of Western thinking over
the last 2,500 years.
 x

Purpose.of.This.Work

In this work I try to show that Dooyeweerd is at least interesting enough, to those
who work or research in any of these areas of IT/IS, to be considered alongside other
approaches. I do not seek to show Dooyeweerd is superior to any of these, let alone
replace them. Rather I simply recommend him for further study. To do this I make a
proposal (or set of proposals) for the adoption, development, testing and refinement
of his approach by IS researchers and practitioners. It is only once this has been
achieved that it is right to even begin to evaluate Dooyeweerd against other thinkers,
because before then his thought would not have been properly understood.
As mentioned at the start, the central purpose of this work is to propose a new way
of looking at IT/IS, which is philosophically sound and yet practical. That is, it
develops five philosophical frameworks for understanding IS, one for each area.
But it might be of value in other ways too:

• It is unusual in advocating a lifeworld approach in all areas of research and

practice, reinterpreting the issues in each in the light of everyday experience
• It aims at integrable frameworks for understanding the various areas with a
view to being able to richly understand the ‘whole story that is information
systems’ in a coherent way
• It addresses both technical and non-technical areas at the micro and macro
levels
• It demonstrates how philosophy in general may be used to construct (lifeworld-
oriented) frameworks for understanding
• It is the only general introduction to Dooyeweerd’s philosophy available in
the field of IT/IS

For the last reason, that part which explains Dooyeweerd (Chapters II, III) is de-
signed to be used as a reference work relevant to IS which gives pointers into his
thought for further study.
What the work specifically offers includes:

• It indicates how philosophy in general can be employed in working out frame-

works for understanding in several areas of research and practice in IS.
• Though the framework it develops for each area is new, it discusses how each
links to a selection of extant frameworks and significant issues in its area.
• It throws fresh light on some issues in each area, which, even if the reader might
not wish to adopt either the framework offered or this particular philosophy,
could be useful in stimulating new ideas or strategic directions in research or
practice. It also provides a number of practical devices for each area.
xv

• It systematically explains and critically discusses Dooyeweerd’s philosophy,

placing it in the context of other philosophies.
• It reviews current research in each area that has made use of this philosophy,
and sets the research direction for its further application in IS.
• It makes a number of suggestions for critiquing and refining the philosophy
itself.

Despite an emphasis on philosophy, this work (especially Chapters IV-VIII) should

be readable by those who have only limited understanding of conventional phi-
losophy. Indeed, knowledge of conventional philosophy might not help, because
of Dooyeweerd’s very different approach. Reference is made to other philosophers,
not because the reader is assumed to understand them, but mainly in order to situate
Dooyeweerd among them for those readers who do know their work.

The.Chapters

Chapter I is preparatory to formulating philosophical frameworks for understanding

information systems. It clarifies what is meant by ‘information systems’, setting
out the five areas referred to in the vignettes. It discusses what is meant by ‘under-
standing’ and outlines some characteristics of the everyday ‘lifeworld’. It explains
what is to be expected in ‘frameworks’, and finally discusses what is meant by
‘philosophical’ and what the role of philosophy should be in such a work. In doing
this, it gives initial reasons why Dooyeweerd is worth exploring.
Chapter II sets out Dooyeweerd’s general approach to philosophy and explains in
what ways it is so different from most Western thinking. In particular it makes clear
that Dooyeweerd offered both a critical and a positive philosophy, first deconstruct-
ing three millennia of Western thought and then having enough courage to construct
something to be itself critiqued.
Chapter III explains those portions of Dooyeweerd’s positive proposal that will
be used in formulating frameworks for understanding. It is necessary to introduce
this philosophy systematically because the reader needs to be able to grasp it to
the extent of being able to apply it in their own fields in ways not discussed here,
to understand how it relates to other streams of thinking, and even to properly test
and refine it. It explains Dooyeweerd’s ‘general theory of modal spheres’, his ap-
proach to being and things, to knowledge, and to human life. It reviews some extant
critique of Dooyeweerd.
Chapters IV to VIII then explore how Dooyeweerd’s ideas can be used to formulate
frameworks for understanding each of the areas indicated by the vignettes (though
in a different order). Each chapter begins with a brief discussion of what ‘everyday
 xv

experience’ or ‘lifeworld’ means in the area, which surfaces several main issues
that need to be addressed. Application of Dooyeweerd’s thought is then explored in
relation to these issues, including offering practical devices that might assist prac-
titioners in the area. Also each chapter contains discussion of some extant ways of
seeing the area. The aim of each chapter is not only to formulate a framework for
understanding, but also to demonstrate a general approach that anyone might be
able to follow, using whatever is their favourite philosophy.
Chapter IV begins with human use of IT artefacts and systems, as introduced in
Vignette 2, because we want to place the human being, rather than the technology,
at the centre. Three usage relationships are discussed: human computer interaction,
engagement with represented content and human living with computers (the first
two do not feature in the Vignette), each of which is seen as multi-aspectual human
functioning but each exhibiting a different set of issues. (The Dooyeweerdian no-
tion of multi-aspectual functioning is explained in Chapter III.) Both the structure
(i.e. nature) of each and the normativity that is operative in each is explored. The
framework thus developed provides a way of addressing the tricky problems men-
tioned in Vignette 2. How this framework can engage with extant frameworks for
understanding is discussed, including Walsham’s ‘Making a World of Difference’
and Winograd and Flores’ ‘Language Action Perspective’.
Chapter V then discusses the nature of computers (Vignette 4) and also informa-
tion, because the reflective user will at some time ponder this, and because we
need some basis for understanding what computers can and cannot do. The latter
centres on the artificial intelligence question of whether computers can think or
not. Employing Dooyeweerd’s notion of the multi-aspectual meaningful whole
(explained in Chapter III), it sees computers as multi-level systems, not dissimilar
to Newell’s theory. Indeed, the framework developed here shows how Dooyeweerd
can provide a sound philosophical underpinning for Newell’s theory, including his
strong ontological claim. Fresh light is shone into Searle’s Chinese Room thought-
experiment. Dooyeweerd’s treatment of performance art is used to understand the
nature of computer programs.
Chapter VI formulates a framework for understanding IS development (Vignette 3)
as multi-aspectual human functioning in which the post-social aspects are prominent.
In fact, four distinct but interwoven multi-aspectual functionings are explored, two
reflecting the issues encountered in Vignette 3. The history of perspectives on meth-
odologies in ISD is explained from a Dooyeweerdian perspective, and it is shown
how Dooyeweerd can enrich Checkland’s well-known soft systems methodology.
It is in this area that most application of Dooyeweerd to IS has occurred so far, and
the work of several thinkers is discussed.
Chapter VII discusses the technological resources that IS developers make use
of—the programming or knowledge representation (KR) languages, code libraries
and inter-program protocols. It begins with Brachman’s call for ‘KR to the people’
(KR languages so natural that anyone could, in principle, use them to develop their
xv

own IS). This call is answered by reference to Dooyeweerd’s approach to the diversity
of the world, with which a detailed proposal is presented for a multi-aspectual de-
velopment toolkit. My own premature proposal for ‘aspects of knowledge’ (Vignette
1) is seen as a small subset of this. The framework formulated here acknowledges
a transcending reality of immense diversity, and discusses how to future-proof the
toolkit to cope with unforeseen requirements. It also, perhaps more usefully, shows
how this proposal can be used as a yardstick against which to measure extant propos-
als, from the relational data model, object orientation, Wand and Weber’s proposal,
and the employment of Alexander’s design patterns in software.
Chapter VIII discusses how Dooyeweerd’s philosophy can address the ‘macro’ level
of IS: the global, societal issues. I have called this our technological ecology, in
which human living is ‘inside’ IT (Vignette 5). First, Schuurman’s use of Dooye-
weerd to define a ‘liberating vision for technology’ is discussed, which establishes
the conditions under which technological development is a blessing rather than
curse for humanity. Then the circular relationship between us and IT is examined:
though created by us IT nevertheless changes not only the way we live but how we
see ourselves. Critiques by feminism that IT has become inscribed with masculin-
ity and by others that it has become inscribed with Western values are outlined and
shown to be commensurable with, but a subset of, what Dooyeweerd could offer.
The root of problems in this area of technological ecology is traced to various types
of religious dysfunction, for which mere economic, social or technological solu-
tions will be ineffective. Throughout this area is the issue of the ultimate Destiny
of IT and humankind.
Chapter IX reflects on the proposals and on our use of Dooyeweerd’s philosophy.
It summarises the five frameworks for understanding, and discusses how they can
cohere to help us understand the ‘whole story’ that is IS. The benefits and limita-
tions of having used Dooyeweerd are discussed, and various suggestions made for
critiquing and refining Dooyeweerd’s philosophy itself are collected together. The
degree to which the whole exercise has been able to meet the requirements set out
in Chapter I is discussed, including the issue of whether one overarching framework
should be sought. Finally, the very process of our exploration is discussed, includ-
ing how the approach adopted in this volume could be used by those who wish to
employ a different set of aspects, different areas of research and practice, or even
an alternative philosophy to that of Dooyeweerd. The book ends with a brief sug-
gestion for the future.

References

Attarwala, F. T., & Basden, A. (1985). A methodology for constructing expert sys-
tems. R&D Management, 15(2), 141-149.
 xv

Basden, A. (1983). On the application of expert systems. International Journal of

Man-Machine Studies, 19, 461-477.
Basden, A. (1993). Appropriateness. In M. A. Bramer & A. L. Macintosh (Eds.),
Research and development in expert systems X (pp. 315-328). Cranfield, UK:
BHR Group.
Basden, A., Watson, I. D., & Brandon, P. S. (1995). Client centred: An approach to
developing knowledge based systems. Chilton, UK: Council for the Central
Laboratory of the Research Councils.
Castell, A. C., Basden, A., Erdos, G., Barrows, P., & Brandon, P. S. (1992). Knowl-
edge based systems in use: A case study. In British Computer Society Specialist
Group for Knowledge Based Systems, Proceedings from Expert Systems 92
(Applications Stream). Swindon, UK: British Computer Society.
Landauer, T. K. (1996). The trouble with computers: Usefulness, usability and
productivity. Cambridge, MA: Bradford Books, MIT Press.
Newell, A. (1982). The knowledge level. Artificial Intelligence, 18, 87-127.

Note

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All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Copyrights
All diagrams and tables are © 2007 Andrew Basden and are used with permis-
sion.
xv

Acknowledgment

First and foremost I would like to thank Martin and Margaret Ansdell-Smith, with-
out whom this book would never have been written. They always encouraged me
through difficult periods in writing, helping me to get the book into shape several
times by suggesting new ways of looking at the work, new messages to give and
even some new ideas. They also undertook much of the painstaking work of ensur-
ing many details were correct and commenting on its readability.
Next I would like to thank Henk Geertsema, emeritus holder of the Dooyeweerd
Chair at the VU-Amsterdam in the Netherlands, and Roy Clouser, emeritus pro-
fessor of philosophy at Trenton State College, New Jersey, both internationally
acknowledged experts in Dooyeweerdian philosophy. They read and commented
on my exposition and use of Dooyeweerd from the perspective of Dooyeweerdian
scholarship, correcting some of my misunderstandings, suggesting new ways of
expressing Dooyeweerd’s ideas and giving much encouragement.
I would like to thank my friend and colleague, Heinz Klein, professor emeritus
SUNY Binghamton, USA, and internationally recognised as one of the major
thinkers in information systems research over the past 20 years, whose knowledge
of the phenomenological, hermeneutic, linguistic and critical turns in philosophy
as applied to IS is second to none. Despite many pressures, including a very heavy
work schedule, he gave me continual inspiration and, with his customary incisive
way of thinking challenged my beliefs and stimulated me to clarify a number of
issues, especially about the lifeworld.
 xx

Special thanks are due to my colleagues at the University of Salford, Dr. Helen
Richardson and Professor Alison Adam, who both encouraged me to keep going
when I felt like giving up. Helen read a draft of the manuscript and saw more clearly
than I did what the value of the work might be. Professor Michael Myers, University
of Auckland, New Zealand, might be surprised to be included in my acknowledg-
ments, but on one occasion with one comment he helped me see more clearly what
the book was to be about.
I would like to thank my friend Lyndon Fallows for useful advice about the style
of writing to use in the book.
I would like to thank Dr. Michael Winfield, recently of the University of Central
England, for permission to adapt a diagram from his thesis and for pushing me,
years ago, to publish philosophical works.
Thanks are due to the University of Salford for allowing me 6 months’ study leave in
2003, which enabled me to begin the project of writing this book, and to the Herman
Dooyeweerd Foundation, which funded travel to North America to visit a number
of people who knew Dooyeweerd’s ideas. Thanks are also due to the publishers of
this book for permission, despite their house style, to add numbers to the headings
within chapters in order to facilitate cross-referencing. In particular, Kristin Roth,
managing development editor, has been very effective in helping me prepare the
book for publication. I would like especially to thank three anonymous reviewers
whose challenging questions and most helpful suggestions helped me shape the
argument of the book.
Finally, I would like to thank my wife Ruth for her patience, support and encour-
agement over several years when the writing of this book dominated much of our
lives.

Andrew Basden
June 2007
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