Churchman’s ‘anatomy of system teleology’ revisited

Churchman’s concept of ‘inquiring systems’ and its underlying ‘anatomy of system teleology’ have been a source of inspiration for the development of Peter B. Checkland’s Soft Systems Methodology. The author here provides a personal account of the importance that Churchman’s approach has had for him. In the spirit of Singerian inquiry, he also offers a few critical considerations with respect to the assumptions and limitations of Churchman’s teleological system approach.