Re‐inventing the already punctured wheel: reflections on a seminar with Humberto Maturana

Birch, Jim

doi:10.1046/j..1991.00434.x

Cited by 8 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Autopoiesis served both as an inductive and deductive framework throughout my research, but its full utility was only realized after I began using the theory in an autopoietic fashion. Thinking within a circular process is difficult, and this circularity can be seen as self-contradictory, tautological, or unscientific (Birch, 1991;Boker & Brenner, 1997;Mingers, 1995;Scheper & Scheper, 1996). Autopoiesis is a theory, by its own definition, which is impossible to verify through the process of external proof central to positivist scientific method.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Construction of a Courtroom

Eldridge

2002

The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science

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This article uses autopoietic theory to explain the dual construction of Philadelphia Landlord-Tenant (L-T) Court’s organizational patterns and the construction of my understanding of these patterns. Autopoiesis characterizes biological, individual, and social systems as fundamentally self-referential and asserts that the relationship between systems is defined by continuous responses to environmental changes made by each system. By using a combination of methodologies and extensive fieldwork, I participated in the organizational patterns that I was observing. The central pattern observed was L-T Court’s propagation of its own version of landlord and tenant law that directly contradicts substantial portions of the judicial, legislative, and administrative law the court is mandated to apply. Autopoietic theory provides a powerful framework to understand the organizational behavior of this courtroom and the epistemological dimensions of researchers’ relationship with the organizations that they observe.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Construction of a Courtroom

Eldridge

2002

The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science

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“…Is constructivism really saying anything new, and will it make any difference to what goes on in therapy?" Actually, we're about to publish a detailed critique of Maturana's work by Jim Birch (1991), together with a response from Maturana himself (Maturana, 1991) and an essay on the whole subject by Bebe Speed (Speed, 1991).…”

Section: Suementioning

confidence: 99%

Naivety and Family Therapy An Interview with John Carpenter

Jackson¹

1992

ANZ J of Family Therapy

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Family therapists have been naive about families, the pressures on them and the contexts of therapy. Therapists should be clear about their roles, sensitive to families' experience of therapy, and resist the temptation to mystify therapy. John Carpenter is Senior Lecturer in Mental Health, University of Kent, Canterbury, England and Co‐Editor of Journal of Family Therapy. He was a guest keynote speaker at the 1991 Australian Family Therapy Conference in Brisbane, and this interview took place shortly afterwards in Melbourne.

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“…Another group of writers focusing on distinctive aspects of the theory such as philosophy, cognition and social autopoiesis, have sought to engage in theoretical debate, to connect with other literatures, and to delve into and debate various controversies (see, for example, Luhmann, 1986Luhmann, , 1990Berman, 1989;Mingers, 1990Mingers, , 1991Mingers, , 1992aMingers, ,b, 1996aMingers, ,b, 1997Birch, 1991;Robb, 1991;Zeleny and Hufford, 1992;Kay, 2003). From time to time these debates have concluded with a negative assessment being made about the overall value of Maturana and Varela's work.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reconnecting biology, social relations and epistemology--a systemic appreciation of autopoietic theory

Brocklesby

2004

International Journal of General Systems

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This paper seeks to tease out the systemic character of a body of work that elsewhere in both the primary and secondary literature tends to be described, discussed and applied in fragmented and reductionist terms. The origins of "autopoietic theory" may be traced back to experimental work in cellular biology and neuro-physiology and to the concept of "autopoiesis" (a theory of living systems) itself. From there, it has extended its coverage into a wide range of diverse areas including cognition, perception, emotion, evolution, language, culture, epistemology, the philosophy of science and ethics. Against this background, the paper seeks to outline a high-level systemic interpretation of autopoietic theory; specifically one that integrates its various biological, social and epistemological components and which shows that it is best evaluated and understood as an explanatory whole and not in a reductionist manner.

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Re‐inventing the already punctured wheel: reflections on a seminar with Humberto Maturana

Cited by 8 publications

References 14 publications

The Construction of a Courtroom

The Construction of a Courtroom

Naivety and Family Therapy An Interview with John Carpenter

Reconnecting biology, social relations and epistemology--a systemic appreciation of autopoietic theory

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