Since their foundation, Complexity theories have been characterized by a wide multiplicity of interpretations, so that it is often hard to find even a commonly shared definition. This work provides a description of the main interpretations of Complexity and gives an account of the differences, in terms of heuristic potentialities, that have not permitted the assessment of a unique definition. The exploration of these differences will take place within an historical framework. The main idea of this work is that each different version of Complexity Theories is related to the social and cultural structure that characterizes a given epoch. More specifically, we will try to insert each specific version of CT in a given historical contents and will highlight the socialepistemic needs (which change at each epoch) that that version is supposed to have met. We hope that this work will bring two categories of benefits: on one side it will highlight the different interpretations and help
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