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Dr Humberto R. Maturana - a short biography
Humberto R. Maturana is one of the key figures in systems and cybernetics
over the last thirty years. His work on autopoiesis (together with Francisco Varela who
died recently) has been influential in many disciplines and
led to what is known as second order cybernetics.
Maturana is a neurobiologist and professor at the University of Chile. In
his work he studies the properties and possibilities of living systems. When
asked about the nature of life and cognition he formulated an answer:
autopoiesis (the Greek auto means "self" and poiesis means "to make").
With Francisco J. Varela he wrote: "Autopoiesis and Cognition: The
Realization of the Living" (D. Reidel Publishing Company, 1980) and "The
Tree of Knowledge: The Biological Roots of Human Understanding" (Shambhala,
1987). In these works he unfolds this change in cognition theory, laying a
new foundation for biologistic system theory. He investigated ideas in
cognition and perception and has expanded the understanding of humanness and
therapy through revealing the biology of the observer. Maturana's systemic
view of human experience leads to a change in the understanding of
humanness. The main consequence is a revaluation of emotions as the
fundament of human life and even of rationality.
His work has been taken up in disciplines such as sociology, family therapy,
philosophy, law, information systems and industrial relations.
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The Tree of Knowledge
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The Biological Roots of Human Understanding
Maturana, H. R. and F.J. Varela., 1988
Shambhala Publications
ISBN: 0877736421
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With a basis in biology, linguistics and social and cultural phenomena, this book shows that the process of learning is not a means of knowing an absolute world of facts, but is rather an active process which itself creates the world of human experiences. To convey this, the authors examine cognition in all its facets, exploring topics such as the nature of scientific exploration, the organization of living things, evolution, language and the emergence of self-awareness. The authors maintain that the nature of cognition has important social and ethical consequences, for the only world that we humans can have is one that we bring forth together the action of our coexistence. |
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Autopoiesis and Cognition
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