Abstract
In this thesis we emphasize the importance of considering a MAS following all its aspects : agent, environment, interaction, organization and institution. Up to now, these aspects were treated in most cases separately, and it was difficult to find models that combined many of them. Besides, we note that there is sometimes an ambiguity on the role of each of these aspects of a MAS. It is therefore important to clarify them separately and to try to integrate them in a consistent way. Our objective is to provide an original conceptual framework for MAS which is founded on the four quadrants of Wilber's integral vision. The quadrants result from the intersection of two axes of analysis : the internal/external axis and the individual/collective axis. One of the advantages offered by the framework we propose is that it shows for any existent model the aspects it covers and gives hints on how to integrate it with complementary models. We also show that it is well adapted to the design of open systems. Finally, we propose the meta-model MASQ, which is a formalization of the conceptual framework. MASQ allows someone to describe a MAS using four fundamental concepts (i.e. mind, object-body, physical space and cultural space), the relations between these concepts, and the laws of evolution which determine their dynamics. The main objective of MASQ is to make possible to assemble specific and complementary models of MAS.