From Complexity to Constraint: Toward a Structural Ontology of Scientific Systems
Abstract
This article critically examines the ontological status of complex systems as used in contem-
porary scientific discourse. It argues that the concept of a complex system, while heuristically
valuable, lacks ontological coherence. Drawing on structural realism and a critique of emergen-
tism, it proposes an alternative framework in which what is commonly referred to as a complex
system is reconceptualized as a regime of dynamically stabilized constraints. This structural
approach avoids the pitfalls of system reification and offers a clearer ontological account of
scientific organization.