Principles of Biological Autonomy, a new annotated edition
Language: English
Published by MIT Press Ltd, 2025
- Softcover
- Used
Seller: World of Books Inc, Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.World of Books Inc
AbeBooks seller since March 23, 2026
Condition: Used - Good
£ 55.30
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A new, updated edition of the 1979 classic from one of the foremost authors in cognitive science and theoretical biology, with the original text as well as more than 200 citations to current scientific developments. Francisco Varela's Principles of Biological Autonomy was a groundbreaking text when it was first published in 1979, putting forth a novel theory of how living systems produce and maintain themselves. This new edition, edited and annotated by cognitive scientists Ezequiel Di Paolo and Evan Thompson-revised and complemented with introductory essays for each part of the book-contains a wealth of ideas relevant to current projects in theoretical biology, cognitive science, systems theory, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of biology. Over 220 margin annotations supplement the reading of the text, linking to subsequent research and broader contemporary debates. This foundational book introduces the key concept of autonomy derived as an elaboration of the idea of autopoiesis (the self-production and self-distinction) of living organisms. Varela covers topics in systems theory, neuroscience, theories of perception, and immune networks and offers a participatory epistemology that goes on to be further developed in later enactive literature. These ideas are compelling not only for historical reasons but also because they still illuminate current efforts in developing the enactive approach toward wider and more challenging goals (including language, human cognition, ethics, and environmentalism).…
Seller Inventory # CIN0262551403G
- Title
- Principles of Biological Autonomy, a new annotated edition
- Author
- Francisco J Varela
- Publisher
- MIT Press Ltd
- Publication year
- 2025
- Condition
- Good
- Binding
- Paperback
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 0262551403
- ISBN 13
- 9780262551403
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author
Ezequiel A. Di Paolo is Ikerbasque Research Professor at the Basque Foundation for Science and Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for Computational Neuroscience and Robotics at the University of Sussex.
Evan Thompson is Professor of Philosophy at the University of British Columbia, where he is also Associate Member of the Department of Asian Studies and the Department of Psychology. He is a coauthor of The Embodied Mind and The Blind Spot (both MIT Press), an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and a past President of the Pacific Division of the American Philosophical Association.
Amy Cohen Varela is Chairperson of the Mind & Life Europe Board and involved with Mind and Life since its inception. She is also a clinical psychologist specialized in psychodynamic therapy and philosophy. Amy studied comparative literature at Brown and Columbia Universities before moving to Paris in the early '80s, where she received her degree in clinical psychology at the University of Paris 7, with a specialty in psychodynamic theory and practice, and in parallel, completed psychoanalytic training.
"About the title" may belong to another edition of this title.
World of Books Inc
Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.
AbeBooks seller since March 23, 2026
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