Anatol Rapoport

Anatol Rapoport (* ^July 9 / May 22,  1911 ^greg. In Losowaja, Russian Empire , today Losowa , Ukraine as Anatoli Borissowitsch Rapoport; † January 20, 2007 in Toronto ) was an American mathematician and biologist . He is considered a central thought leader in systems science .

The emeritus professor for psychology and mathematics at the University of Toronto wrote more than 500 scientific articles in which he dealt with mathematics and its application to psychological and social science issues, above all with general systems theory , game theory (2-person and N-person Game theory) and semantics . Other contributions were made to conflict and peace research .

Live and act

Rapoport grew up in Russia before moving to the United States in 1922 at the age of 11 . In 1928 he received US citizenship. He studied music, first in Chicago and then in Vienna , Austria , where he was taught piano and composition from 1929 to 1934 at the "State Academy for Music and Performing Arts" . During his studies he worked as a correspondent for the US magazine "Musical Courrier", performed as a concert pianist and gave lectures on " Semantics and Music" in Europe and the USA.

In 1935 he shifted his scientific interest to the field of mathematics. He made his Bachelor of Science in 1938 at the University of Chicago; In 1940 the master's and in 1941 the PhD in mathematics followed. His doctoral supervisor was Nicolas Rashevsky .

During World War II , Rapoport served in the United States Air Force in Alaska and India .

After his return to the USA, he began his scientific work at the University of Chicago in the Committee on Mathematical Biology. At the newly established “Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences” at Stanford University , he carried out basic work in the mathematical biophysics founded by his teacher Nicolas Rashevsky, such as the mathematical modeling of parasitism and symbiosis , and devoted himself to building the theory of cybernetics ( Cybernetic Theory ). In addition, he began to deal with a topic that would accompany him in the rest of his scientific learning and teaching: conflict and cooperation. In addition, he dealt with metatheoretical , philosophical and epistemological questions. He cultivated an interdisciplinary style of science, which was reflected in the founding of the "Society for General Systems Research" (later: "International Society for the Systems Sciences") around 1954. He founded this association together with the interdisciplinary biologists Ludwig von Bertalanffy and Ralph Gerard and the economist Kenneth Boulding in order to overcome the isolation and specialization of the scientific disciplines.

From 1955 to 1970 Rapoport was Professor of Mathematical Biology at the University of Michigan . Here he began primarily with game theory to address problems, especially with the so-called "non- zero-sum games " ( "non-zero-sum-games"). A theoretical result of his considerations was the formulation of a general interaction strategy for iterating prisoner's dilemma games ( tit for tat ). This strategy has proven extremely successful in poly-strategic games. In 1961 Rapoport was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences .

From 1970 until his retirement, Rapoport worked at the University of Toronto , where he held professorships in psychology and mathematics as well as peace and conflict research. He was also visiting professor at universities in Austria , Denmark , Germany , Japan and Switzerland , as well as director of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Vienna (1980–1983).

Problem solving

Rapoport distinguishes between three approaches to dealing with social conflicts of interest:

• Fight ( "fight") : violent confrontation ends with the submission or physical destruction of the loser.
• Game ("game") : Trial of strength according to fixed rules, ends with the voluntary task of a participant.
• Debate (“debate”) : attempt to make one's own system of norms and values ​​palatable to the other person.

For the last, the peaceful form of conflict resolution, Rapoport suggested in his book “Fights, Games, and Debates” that one as well as the other party should be asked about their definition of the problem. In doing so, party A (in the presence of party B) explains the position of party B , precisely and completely, until party B would declare this to be correct. Then it is Party B's turn to define Party A's position on Party A's satisfaction. This technique would automatically mitigate the problem before the negotiation about the problem begins, since both parties had to develop some understanding for the other in advance, at least in a thought experiment, and an exchange of thoughts, ideas and values takes place in analogy to diffusion : both parties are approaching their positions.

Fonts

English

• Science and the Goals of Man , Harper & Bros., New York, 1950
• Operational Philosophy , Harper & Bros., New York, 1953
• Fights, Games, and Debates . The University of Michigan Press 1960
• Prisoner's Dilemma , The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI., 1965 (with Albert M. Chammah)
• Two-Person Game Theory: The Essential Ideas , Ann Arbor, MI, The University of Michigan Press, 1966, (republished by Dover Press, Mineola, NY, 1999).
• Strategy and Conscience , Shocken Books, New York, NY, 1969
• N-person game theory. Concepts and Applications , University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1970, MI. (Republished by Dover Press, Mineola, NY, 2001).
• Semantics , Crowell, 1975.
• Conflict in Man-made Environment , Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1974 (German 1980)
• General System Theory. Essential Concepts & Applications , Abacus Press, Tunbridge Wells, Kent & Cambridge, Mass., 1986.
• The Origins of Violence , 1989 (German 1990)
• Peace, an Idea Whose Time has Come , 1993 (German 1991)
• Decision theory and decision behavior , 1998, Macmillan, Houndmills.
• Certainties and Doubts: A Philosophy of Life , 2001 (autobiography)
• Conversations with Three Russians - Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Lenin. A Systemic View on Two Centuries of Societal Evolution , Kovacs, Hamburg, 2005.

German

• Fights, games and debates. Three conflict models . Translated and edited by Günther Schwarz. Verlag Darmstädter Blätter, 1976 ISBN 3-87139-037-2
• Whom is the permanent state of war good for ?: The parasitic role of the military establishment in East and West , Verlag Darmstädter Blätter, 1985. ISBN 3-87139-085-2
• General systems theory. Essential terms and applications , Verlag Darmstädter Blätter, 1988. ISBN 3-87139-088-7
• Origins of violence: approaches to conflict research , Darmstädter Blätter publishing house, 1990. ISBN 3-87139-091-7
• Peace: an idea whose time has come , Verlag Darmstädter Blätter, 1991. ISBN 3-87139-094-1
• Certainties and doubts , Verlag Darmstädter Blätter, 1994. ISBN 3-87139-098-4

literature

• Canadian Who's Who , vol. 35.2000
• Ron Csillag, "Anatol Rapoport, Academic 1911-2007." Toronto Globe and Mail, January 31, 2007, p. S7
• Chesmak Farhoumand-Sims, "Memories of Anatol Rapoport." Peace Magazine, April 2007, p. 14th
• Alisa Ferguson, "Rapoport was Renowned Mathematical Psychologist, Peace Activist." University of Toronto Bulletin, February 20, 2007.
• Andreas Diekmann , Zum Tode von Anatol Rapoport (May 22, 1911– January 20, 2007) , Cologne Journal for Sociology and Social Psychology, Volume 59, 2007, Issue 2, pp. 369–372, doi : 10.1007 / s11577-007-0044-8 , Online supplement ( memento of October 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive ).
• Markus Schwaninger , "Obituary Anatol Rapoport (May 22, 1911 - January 20, 2007): Pioneer of Systems Theory and Peace Research, Mathematician, Philosopher and Pianist." Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Vol. 24, 2007, pp. 655-658.

Web links

• Biography 1
• Biography 2 (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ A book on "General Semantics" (see also SI Hayakawa 's Language in Thought and Action ).