Autopsies on autopoiesis

Scheper, Willem J.; Scheper, Gert C.

doi:10.1002/bs.3830410101

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Please note that Maturana has consistently declined to characterize as a 'theory' the framework he developed in partnership with Varela and others, and indeed it has been criticized for not being a proper theory (see especiallyScheper and Scheper 1996). But as autopoiesis constitutes a coherent conceptual structure that provides explanations and makes predictions, 'theory' is an appropriate label, in my view.12 It is beyond the scope of this paper to show how autopoietic theory accounts for complex cognitive phenomena such as language use.…”

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confidence: 97%

The biogenic approach to cognition

2005

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After half a century of cognitive revolution we remain far from agreement about what cognition is and what cognition does. It was once thought that these questions could wait until the data were in. Today there is a mountain of data, but no way of making sense of it. The time for tackling the fundamental issues has arrived. The biogenic approach to cognition is introduced not as a solution but as a means of approaching the issues. The traditional, and still predominant, methodological stance in cognitive inquiry is what I call the anthropogenic approach: assume human cognition as the paradigm and work 'down' to a more general explanatory concept. The biogenic approach, on the other hand, starts with the facts of biology as the basis for theorizing and works 'up' to the human case by asking psychological questions as if they were biological questions. Biogenic explanations of cognition are currently clustered around two main frameworks for understanding biology: self-organizing complex systems and autopoiesis. The paper describes the frameworks and infers from them ten empirical principles--the biogenic 'family traits'--that constitute constraints on biogenic theorizing. Because the anthropogenic approach to cognition is not constrained empirically to the same degree, I argue that the biogenic approach is superior for approaching a general theory of cognition as a natural phenomenon.

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confidence: 97%

The biogenic approach to cognition

2005

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“…However, it seems to me that this should not be confused with a tautological character of the theory, as some appear to have done (Scheper and Scheper 1996;Zolo 1990). It is true that if the theory were a tautology, it would have no real empirical content, no matter that some or even all of its terms could have empirical referents.…”

Section: Realism and Constructivismmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…4.2 Self-referentiality and empirical testability I think that Scheper and Scheper (1996) completely miss the point when they maintain that the theory of autopoiesis is circular. They seem to confuse the explanation of a circular phenomenon with the circularity of an explanation.…”

Section: Realism and Constructivismmentioning

confidence: 94%

Autopoiesis and Darwinism

Escobar

2011

Synthese

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The purpose of this paper is to offer a critical approach to the theory of autopoiesis in order to see how it challenges mainstream Darwinism. In the first part of the paper, I characterize Darwinism from the concepts of natural selection, heredity, reproduction, and evolution. This characterization is absolutely schematic, and I hope not controversial at all, since my aim is to provide a general background for the discussion of the rest of the paper. The second part presents the main tenets of the theory of autopoiesis, also paying special attention to the concepts of natural selection, heredity, reproduction, and evolution. The third and final part considers some criticisms that have been directed against the theory and suggests some new ones. As I said, my intention is to offer a critical approach, so that I pretend to assess neither autopoiesis nor Darwinism. The assessment, it seems to me, would be a matter of scientific debate-not properly of philosophy. Therefore, given that my approach attempts to be a conceptual clarification, my contribution to the contemporary debate about Darwinism is twofold. On the one hand, I show that conceptually autopoiesis constitutes an important challenge to Darwinism, but on the other, I also show that some fundamental aspects of the theory appear to be both epistemologically and empirically problematic, which perhaps helps to understand why autopoiesis is not widely accepted in mainstream Darwinism.

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“…Von Krugh and colleagues (Venzin et al 1998) have also argued the significance of the concept of the 'autopoietic' system, in which an entity is defined by the generative powers of its component relations. However, the development of this contemporary epistemology is not without criticism (Scheper and Scheper 1996).…”

Section: The Definitions and Discussion Of Knowledge In Organizationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Selected debate from the arena of knowledge management: new endorsements for established organizational practices

Beamish

Armistead

2001

Int J Management Reviews

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Management theorists and practitioners have been allured recently to the contemporary field of knowledge management. This is a burgeoning subject that has enticed the involvement of specialists from established domains that are broad based in themselves: strategy, organizational behaviour, operations and information technology. In arguing the importance of knowledge in the strategic purpose of the organization, authorities essentially endorse practices that have been supported in the past: practices that appreciate the social context of knowledge. This paper reviews the debates in strategic theory that support the contemporary`knowledge-based' view of the organization, and describes how established practices relating to knowledge transfer and creation have been recently revitalized.

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Autopsies on autopoiesis

Cited by 8 publications

References 15 publications

The biogenic approach to cognition

The biogenic approach to cognition

Autopoiesis and Darwinism

Selected debate from the arena of knowledge management: new endorsements for established organizational practices

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