Telesis
Encyclopedia
Telesis or "planned progress" was a concept
and neologism coined by the American
sociologist Lester Frank Ward
(often referred to as the "father of American sociology"), in the late 19th century to describe directed social advancement
via education and the scientific method
. The term has since been adopted as the name of numerous groups, organizations and businesses.
, Berkeley, called themselves Telesis. Philosophically, the group also evolved from several larger international architectural movements, which included CIAM (Congrès International d'Architecture Moderne
) and MARS (Modern Architectural Research Group
).
Their stated aim was to research the development and implications of what architectural critic Lewis Mumford
called the Second Bay Area Regional Style. As set forth in their founding statement, the group believed that "People and the Land make up the environment which has four distinct parts--a place to Live, Work, Play, and the Services which integrate these and make them operate. These components must be integrated in the community and urban region through rational planning, and through the use of modern building technology." -- from The Things Telesis Has Found Important
Noted Telesis members included William Wurster
, Catherine Bauer Wurster
, Vernon DeMars
, Thomas Church, Garret Eckbo, Grace McCann Moreley, Francis Violich, Joseph Allen Stein
and T. J. Kent. Jr.. In addition to internal research and working group
s that investigated such topics as speculative housing, industrial design, and the relationship of the physical environment of the San Francisco Bay Area to indigenous architectural styles, the group also organized several influential exhibitions on contemporary architecture and planning with the support of the San Francisco Museum of Art. Professional and personal papers from many of Telesis's members are collected in the Environmental Design Archives at the University of California, Berkeley
. Telesis is also the name of many schools in America.
as "infocognitive potential".
Concept
The word concept is used in ordinary language as well as in almost all academic disciplines. Particularly in philosophy, psychology and cognitive sciences the term is much used and much discussed. WordNet defines concept: "conception, construct ". However, the meaning of the term concept is much...
and neologism coined by the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
sociologist Lester Frank Ward
Lester Frank Ward
Lester F. Ward was an American botanist, paleontologist, and sociologist. He served as the first president of the American Sociological Association.-Biography:...
(often referred to as the "father of American sociology"), in the late 19th century to describe directed social advancement
Social progress
Social progress is the idea that societies can or do improve in terms of their social, political, and economic structures. This may happen as a result of direct human action, as in social enterprise or through social activism, or as a natural part of sociocultural evolution...
via education and the scientific method
Scientific method
Scientific method refers to a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of...
. The term has since been adopted as the name of numerous groups, organizations and businesses.
Applications of the term and concept
A group of architects, landscape architects, and urban planners from the Bay Area, founded in late 1939 through the merging of two groups of architects, one from San Francisco and the other from the University of CaliforniaUniversity of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
, Berkeley, called themselves Telesis. Philosophically, the group also evolved from several larger international architectural movements, which included CIAM (Congrès International d'Architecture Moderne
Congrès International d'Architecture Moderne
The Congrès internationaux d'architecture moderne – CIAM was an organization founded in 1928 and disbanded in 1959, responsible for a series of events and congresses arranged around the world by the most prominent architects of the time, with the objective of spreading the principles of the Modern...
) and MARS (Modern Architectural Research Group
MARS Group
The Modern Architectural Research Group, or MARS Group, was a British architectural think tank founded in 1933 by several prominent architects and architectural critics of the time involved in the British modernist movement...
).
Their stated aim was to research the development and implications of what architectural critic Lewis Mumford
Lewis Mumford
Lewis Mumford was an American historian, philosopher of technology, and influential literary critic. Particularly noted for his study of cities and urban architecture, he had a broad career as a writer...
called the Second Bay Area Regional Style. As set forth in their founding statement, the group believed that "People and the Land make up the environment which has four distinct parts--a place to Live, Work, Play, and the Services which integrate these and make them operate. These components must be integrated in the community and urban region through rational planning, and through the use of modern building technology." -- from The Things Telesis Has Found Important
Noted Telesis members included William Wurster
William Wurster
William Wilson Wurster was an American architect and architectural teacher at the University of California, Berkeley and at MIT, best known for his residential designs in California. - Biography :...
, Catherine Bauer Wurster
Catherine Bauer Wurster
Catherine Krause Bauer Wurster was a leading member of a small group of idealists who called themselves "housers" because of their commitment to improving housing for low-income families...
, Vernon DeMars
Vernon DeMars
Vernon DeMars was an American architect and professor at the UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design.As one of the principal members of Telesis, he helped develop what Lewis Mumford called the Second Bay Area Regional Style. He, along with William Wurster, designed Wurster Hall, Sproul Plaza...
, Thomas Church, Garret Eckbo, Grace McCann Moreley, Francis Violich, Joseph Allen Stein
Joseph Allen Stein
Joseph Stein, was an American architect. An a major figure in the establishment of a regional modern architecture in the San Francisco Bay area in the 1940s and 1950s during the early days of the environmental design movement, he is noted for designing several important buildings in India, most...
and T. J. Kent. Jr.. In addition to internal research and working group
Working group
A working group is an interdisciplinary collaboration of researchers working on new research activities that would be difficult to develop under traditional funding mechanisms . The lifespan of the WG can last anywhere between a few months and several years...
s that investigated such topics as speculative housing, industrial design, and the relationship of the physical environment of the San Francisco Bay Area to indigenous architectural styles, the group also organized several influential exhibitions on contemporary architecture and planning with the support of the San Francisco Museum of Art. Professional and personal papers from many of Telesis's members are collected in the Environmental Design Archives at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. Telesis is also the name of many schools in America.
Sociology
The mechanics of society fall under two general groups: social statics and social dynamics. Social dynamics is further divided into social genesis and social telesis. Social telesis may be further divided into individual telesis and collective telesis.- Telesis: Progress consciously planned and produced by intelligently directed effort.
- Social telesis: The intelligent direction of social activity towards the achievement of a desired and understood end.
- Collective telesis: Adaptation of means to ends by society.
- Individual telesis: The conscious adaptation of conduct by an individual to the achievement of his own consciously apprehended ends.
Philosophy
Telesis (Greek: Telos, end, + -osis, condition) as "the intelligent direction of effort toward the achievement of an end." has also been a term used in the context of epistemology and ontologyOntology
Ontology is the philosophical study of the nature of being, existence or reality as such, as well as the basic categories of being and their relations...
as "infocognitive potential".
See also
- Cultural CreativesCultural CreativesCultural Creatives is a term coined by sociologist Paul H. Ray and psychologist Sherry Ruth Anderson to describe a large segment in Western society that has recently developed beyond the standard paradigm of Modernists or Progressives versus Traditionalists or Conservatives...
- Pacific TelesisPacific TelesisPacific Telesis Group was one of the seven Regional Bell Operating Companies, sometimes also referred to as "RBOCs" or "Baby Bells", created in 1983 in preparation of the breakup of AT&T as a holding company for Pacific Bell and Nevada Bell, Pacific Telesis International and several other...
- PolytelyPolytelyPolytely can be described as frequently, complex problem-solving situations characterized by the presence of not one, but several goals, endings.Modern societies face an increasing incidence of various complex problems...
- Telos (philosophy)Telos (philosophy)A telos is an end or purpose, in a fairly constrained sense used by philosophers such as Aristotle. It is the root of the term "teleology," roughly the study of purposiveness, or the study of objects with a view to their aims, purposes, or intentions. Teleology figures centrally in Aristotle's...
External links
- Sociology: The Outlines as Set Forth in Lester F. Ward's New Handbook, New York Times, 11 June 1898