Del Ser al Hacer

by Humberto R. Maturana, Bernhard Pörksen

“Desde que conozco a Humberto Maturana, hace casi medio siglo, inicia sus conferencias –sin importar si tiene delante de sí a filósofos, físicos, terapeutas familiares, gerentes u otros– con las mismas “Siempre que hablo, hablo como biólogo”. En estos fascinantes diálogos con el sensible e inteligente Bernhard Pörksen se mantiene fiel a esta tradición. El resultado es una amplia panorámica que abarca desde los intrincados problemas de la filosofía y lógica, hasta las cuestiones éticas fundamentales de la vida diaria. Las conversaciones están focalizadas en un punto central que es el de la vida misma. Donde quiera que abra este libro, sumamente logrado, al momento de cerrarlo se sentirá enriquecido y estimulado”. Heinz von Foerster Científico cibernético y constructivista, profesor honoris causa de la Universidad de Viena, profesor emérito de la Universidad de Illinois. .

Genres: Philosophy, Science, Nonfiction, Biology, Neuroscience

240 pages, Paperback

First published September 16, 2004

About the author

Humberto Maturana is a Chilean biologist. Many consider him a member of a group of second-order cybernetics theoreticians such as Heinz von Foerster, Gordon Pask, Herbert Brün and Ernst von Glasersfeld.

Maturana, along with Francisco Varela and Ricardo B. Uribe, is particularly known for creating the term "autopoiesis" about the self-generating, self-maintaining structure in living systems, and concepts such as structural determinism and structure coupling. His work has been influential in many fields, mainly the field of systems thinking and cybernetics. Overall, his work is concerned with the biology of cognition

Reviews

[Braeden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent follow-up to "The Tree of Knowledge." Where that book can be quite abstract, this book —and the interviewer's continual pressing for examples— provides ample space to lay out concrete descriptions, which I found helpful to construct a comprehensive understanding of Maturana's views.

[Gabriel Acosta-mikulasek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slow and deep reflective read

[Heiki Eesmaa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found it highly repetitive. DNF @ 33 %.

[Adler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insightful. Awakening. To read again and again.

[Christian Moore-Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book, full of wisdom and interesting ideas.