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Francisco J. Varela’s Followers (151)

Francisco J. Varela

Born

in Santiago, Chile

September 07, 1946

Died

May 28, 2001

Website

https://www.mindandlife.org

Genre

Science, Philosophy, Spirituality

Influences

Humberto Maturana, Edmund Husserl, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Mencius, Con ...more

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Francisco Varela was a biologist, philosopher, and neuroscientist who, together with his teacher Humberto Maturana, is best known for introducing the concept of *autopoiesis to biology*, for bringing phenomenology and first-person approaches to biology and neuroscience, and for co-founding the Mind and Life Institute to promote dialog between science and Buddhism.

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Francisco J. Varela’s books

Average rating: 4.16 · 3,951 ratings · 279 reviews · 40 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience by Francisco J. Varela, Evan Thompson, Eleanor Rosch 4.15 avg rating — 1,304 ratings — published 1991 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Ethical Know-How: Action, Wisdom, and Cognition 4.24 avg rating — 166 ratings — published 1988 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Conocer. Las ciencias cognitivas: tendencias y perspectivas. Cartografía de las ideas actuales by Francisco J. Varela, Carlos Gardini (Translator) 3.82 avg rating — 68 ratings — published 1988 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	El Fenómeno de la Vida 4.42 avg rating — 45 ratings — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The View from Within: First-Person Approaches to the Study of Consciousness (Journal of Consciousness Studies, 6, No. 2-3) by Francisco J. Varela (Editor), Jonathan Shear (Editor) 4.20 avg rating — 44 ratings — published 1999 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Gentle Bridges: Conversations with the Dalai Lama on the Sciences of Mind by Francisco J. Varela, Jeremy W. Hayward (Editor) 4.43 avg rating — 30 ratings — published 1992 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Autopoiesis. Orígenes de una idea 4.13 avg rating — 30 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Invitation aux sciences cognitives 3.54 avg rating — 24 ratings — published 1997	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Principles of Biological Autonomy 4.13 avg rating — 16 ratings — published 1979 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	La habilidad etica/ The Etical Ability 3.86 avg rating — 14 ratings — published 2003	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Quotes by Francisco J. Varela (?)

“Organisms do not passively receive information from their environments, which they then translate into internal representations. Natural cognitive systems...participate in the generation of meaning ...engaging in transformational and not merely informational interactions: they enact a world.”
― Francisco J. Varela

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“Just as the mindfulness meditator is amazed to discover how mindless he is in daily life, so the first insights of the meditator who begins to question the self are normally not egolessness but the discovery of total egomania. Constantly one thinks, feels, and acts as though one had a self to protect and preserve. The slightest encroachment on the self's territory (a splinter in the finger, a noisy neighbor) arouses fear and anger. The slightest hope of self-enhancement (gain, praise, fame, pleasure) arouses greed and grasping. Any hint that a situation is irrelevant to the self (waiting for a bus, meditating) arouses boredom. Such impulses are instinctual, automatic, pervasive, and powerful. They are completely taken for granted in daily life.”
― Francisco J. Varela, The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience

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“... The result, in this world view, is that real freedom comes not from the decisions of an ego-self’s “will” but from action without any Self
whatsoever”
― Francisco J. Varela, The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience

tags: discovery, ego, free-will, human-nature, mindfulness, self, systems-thinking

4 likes

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