Journal
SYSTEMS RESEARCH AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE
Volume 28, Issue 6, Pages 631-645Publisher
WILEY-BLACKWELL
DOI: 10.1002/sres.1116
Keywords
Varela; autopoiesis; cognitive science; enactive approach; phenomenology
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Varela is well known in the systems sciences for his work on second-order cybernetics, biology of cognition and especially autopoietic theory. His concern during this period was to find an appropriate epistemological foundation for the self-reference inherent in life and mind. In his later years, Varela began to develop the so-called enactive approach to cognitive science, which sets itself apart from other sciences by promoting a careful consideration of concrete experiential insights. His final efforts were thus dedicated to finding a pragmatic phenomenological foundation for life and mind. It is argued that Varela's experiential turn-from epistemology to phenomenology-can be seen as a natural progression that builds on many ideas that were already implicit in second-order cybernetics and biology of cognition. It is also suggested that the rigorous study of conscious experience may enable us to refine our theories and systemic concepts of life, mind and sociality. Copyright (C) 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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