Francisco J. Varela

This book discusses the emergence of life, the development of the individual, and the study of the interaction between individuals and species. It gives the student of theoretical biology some idea of the flavor of current research in the field.

A new edition of a classic work that originated the "embodied cognition" movement and was one of the first to link science and Buddhist practices. This classic book, first published in 1991, was one of the first to propose the "embodied cognition" approach in cognitive science. It pioneered the connections between phenomenology and science and between Buddhist practices and science-claims that have since become highly influential. Through this cross-fertilization of disparate fields of study, The Embodied Mind introduced a new form of cognitive science called "enaction," in which both the environment and first person experience are aspects of embodiment. However, enactive embodiment is not the grasping of an independent, outside world by a brain, a mind, or a self; rather it is the bringing forth of an interdependent world in and through embodied action. Although enacted cognition lacks an absolute foundation, the book shows how that does not lead to either experiential or philosophical nihilism. Above all, the book's arguments were powered by the conviction that the sciences of mind must encompass lived human experience and the possibilities for transformation inherent in human experience. This revised edition includes substantive introductions by Evan Thompson and Eleanor Rosch that clarify central arguments of the work and discuss and evaluate subsequent research that has expanded on the themes of the book, including the renewed theoretical and practical interest in Buddhism and mindfulness. A preface by Jon Kabat-Zinn, the originator of the mindfulness-based stress reduction program, contextualizes the book and describes its influence on his life and work.

Der alten darwinistisch geprägten Biologie zufolge überlebt ein Lebewesen nur dann, wenn es sich möglichst perfekt seiner Umwelt anpasst. Es wäre damit sklavisch abhängig von einer objektiven Außenwelt. Für Maturana und Varela gibt es jedoch keine "objektive" Wirklichkeit. Wenn Grunderfordernisse des Lebens erfüllt sind, haben lebende Systeme alle Freiheit, sich ihre Welt selbst zu schaffen, anstatt bloß auf Vorgegebenes zu reagieren. Für den Menschen gilt das natürlich in besonderem Maße. Das Subjekt ist somit entscheidend an der Schöpfung seiner nur scheinbar objektiven Wirklichkeit beteiligt. Die neue Bezeichnung von Leben, wie es die Neurobiologen Humberto Maturana und Francisco Varela definiert haben, ist Autopoiesis, was soviel heißt wie: sich selbst schaffen. Die in der Menschheitsgeschichte von Weisen, Mystikern und Philosophen erkannte Einheit von Subjektivität und Objektivität, von Ich und Welt, von Bewusstsein und Sein, wird von Maturana und Varela klar bestätigt und mit naturwissenschaftlichen Forschungsergebnissen belegt.

This book discusses the emergence of life, the development of the individual, and the study of the interaction between individuals and species. It gives the student of theoretical biology some idea of the flavor of current research in the field.

"Knowing how we know" is the subject of this book. Its authors present a new view of cognition that has important social and ethical implications, for, they assert, the only world we humans can have is the one we create together through the actions of our coexistence. Written for a general audience as well as for students, scholars, and scientists and abundantly illustrated with examples from biology, linguistics, and new social and cultural phenomena, this revised edition includes a new afterword by Dr. Varela, in which he discusses the effect the book has had in the years since its first publication.