ABSTRACT
This is the last chapter dealing with epistemological issues. Actually, after reading Chapters 6 and 7, in which the concepts of mosaic effects across levels and impredicative loop analysis were introduced, the reader fed up with epistemological discussions can skip this chapter and move directly to Part 3. The question answered by this chapter is: If we refuse the charge that the expression “sustainable development” is an oxymoron, then should we not be able to describe what it is that remains the same (sustainable) when the system becomes something else (development)? We understand that to some practitioners this question could appear too theoretical. However, the message proposed so far is that those analysts willing to deal with the issue of sustainability cannot just apply formal protocols. Complexity requires the adoption of ßexible procedures of analysis that always imply an explicit semantic check. For this reason, we believe that those who are serious about developing analytical tools for dealing with sustainability should address Þrst — as done in this chapter — the peculiarity of this predicament.
