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Abstract
General system theory offers a conceptual and methodological framework for integrating bioethical considerations into environmental and ecological decision-making, clearly and effectively framing many problems and situations that are usually presented using ordinary language. A system is an internally structured entity characterised by certain specific properties and functions. This unit is related to several of its parts which are also systems and are therefore its subsystems. In turn, each system is part (i.e., subsystem) of higher-order systems. All these systems and subsystems are connected by relationships in such a way that each system is characterised by its specific properties, which, in addition, result from the correlations that link them to their subsystems and higher-order systems. Within this general architecture, concepts such as environment and complexity as well as emergence, with all the problems concerning the limits of predictive possibilities, are easily inscribed, showing that traditional deterministic approaches in science are insufficient to manage such complexity. The paper addresses the challenges posed by unpredictability in complex systems, critiquing fatalistic views that either optimistically or pessimistically accept the uncontrollable nature of technological and ecological developments. It is precisely the unpredictability of a complex system like the environment that necessitates a bioethical dimension to guide the values underlying our decision-making concerning life itself.
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