A new, updated edition of the 1979 classic from one of the foremost authors in cognitive science and theoretical biology, with the original text as well as more than 200 citations to current scientific developments.
A new, updated edition of the 1979 classic from one of the foremost authors in cognitive science and theoretical biology, with the original text as well as more than 200 citations to current scientific developments.
Francisco Varela's Principles of Biological Autonomy was a groundbreaking text when it was first published in 1979, putting forth a novel theory of how living systems produce and maintain themselves. This new edition, edited and annotated by cognitive scientists Ezequiel Di Paolo and Evan Thompson-revised and complemented with introductory essays for each part of the book-contains a wealth of ideas relevant to current projects in theoretical biology, cognitive science, systems theory, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of biology. Over 220 margin annotations supplement the reading of the text, linking to subsequent research and broader contemporary debates.
This foundational book introduces the key concept of autonomy derived as an elaboration of the idea of autopoiesis (the self-production and self-distinction) of living organisms. Varela covers topics in systems theory, neuroscience, theories of perception, and immune networks and offers a participatory epistemology that goes on to be further developed in later enactive literature. These ideas are compelling not only for historical reasons but also because they still illuminate current efforts in developing the enactive approach toward wider and more challenging goals (including language, human cognition, ethics, and environmentalism).
By:
Francisco J. Varela,
Amy Cohen-Varela
Edited by:
Ezequiel A. Di Paolo,
Evan Thompson
Imprint: MIT Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 254mm,
Width: 178mm,
Weight: 369g
ISBN: 9780262551403
ISBN 10: 0262551403
Pages: 400
Publication Date: 17 June 2025
Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Foreword Introduction to the New Edition. A Message from the Margins Preface. Information and Control Revisited Part I. Autonomy of the Living and Organizational Closure 1. Autonomy and Biological Thinking 2. Autopoiesis and the Organization of Living Systems 3. A Tessellation Example of Autopoiesis 4. Embodiments of Autopoiesis 5. The Individual in Development and Evolution 6. On the Consequences of Autopoiesis 7. The Idea of Organizational Closure Part II. Descriptions, Distinctions, and Circularities 8. Operational Explanations and the Dispensability of Information 9. Symbolic Explanations 10. The Framework of Complementarities 11. Calculating Distinctions 12. Closure and Dynamics of Form 13. Eigenbehavior Part III. Cognitive Processes 14. The Immune Network: Self and Nonsense in the Molecular Domain 15. The Nervous System as a Closed Network 16. Epistemology Naturalized Appendices Appendix A Algorithm for a Tesselation Example of Autopoiesis Appendix B Some Remarks on Reflexive Domains and Logic Bibliography
Francisco J. Varela (1946-2001) was Director of the Centre National de Recherche Scientifique; Professor of Cognitive Science and Epistemology, CREA, at the Ecole Polytechnique; and Cofounder of the Mind and Life Institute. Ezequiel A. Di Paolo is Ikerbasque Research Professor at the Basque Foundation for Science and Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for Computational Neuroscience and Robotics at the University of Sussex. Evan Thompson is Professor of Philosophy at the University of British Columbia, where he is also Associate Member of the Department of Asian Studies and the Department of Psychology. He is a coauthor of The Embodied Mind and The Blind Spot (both MIT Press), an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and a past President of the Pacific Division of the American Philosophical Association. Amy Cohen Varela is Chairperson of the Mind & Life Europe Board and involved with Mind and Life since its inception. She is also a clinical psychologist specialized in psychodynamic therapy and philosophy. Amy studied comparative literature at Brown and Columbia Universities before moving to Paris in the early '80s, where she received her degree in clinical psychology at the University of Paris 7, with a specialty in psychodynamic theory and practice, and in parallel, completed psychoanalytic training.
