ABSTRACT
The emerging paradigm recognizes that the collective and holistic properties of physical systems can display new and unforeseen modes of behaviour that are not captured by the Newtonian and thermodynamic approaches. There arises the possibility of self-organization, in which systems suddenly and spontaneously leap into more elaborate forms. These forms are characterized by greater complexity, by cooperative behaviour and global coherence, by the appearance of spatial patterns and temporal rhythms, and by the general unpredictability of their final forms. Newton's efforts indicate some of the ways in which systemic considerations widen the scope of psychoanalytic thinking and understanding. Since the pioneering work of Bertalanffy, a large literature has brought systemic thinking to bear on every branch of science, including biology and its sub-discipline, neuroscience. There is also the intellectual and clinical stimulation that stems from ways in which systemic thinking introduces considerations long absent from psychoanalytic studies.
