Antizipation

Antizipation is the capacity to anticipate future states and to incorporate those anticipations into present cognition, decisions, and actions. It describes both a mental process of expectancy and a practical orientation that guides behavior and system design.

The term is used across disciplines, including philosophy, cognitive science, sociology, and systems theory. In philosophy and psychology, antizipation refers to forms of expectancy that influence choice, planning, and emotional preparation. In sociology and organizational studies, it explains how actors and institutions act in light of expected futures, including the anticipated behavior of others or environmental changes.

In systems theory, particularly in discussions of anticipatory systems, antizipation denotes a system’s capacity to base its present state or actions on an internal model of its future state. This can lead to proactive regulation rather than mere reaction to current conditions, shaping how a system adapts to potential developments.

Antizipation is often contrasted with prediction or forecast, which focus on estimating future states without necessarily specifying how those expectations will alter present behavior. By emphasizing the action-guiding role of future expectations, antizipation highlights how anticipation influences decision making, organization, and the design of processes and structures.

See also: anticipation, predictive processing, anticipatory systems, Rosen, Luhmann.