Self Observation

Critique of an Argument for the Reality of Purpose

by Danny Frederick

Forthcoming, Prolegomena: Journal of Philosophy

Schueler has argued, against the eliminativist, that human purposive action cannot be an illusion because the concept... more Schueler has argued, against the eliminativist, that human purposive action cannot be an illusion because the concept of purpose is not theoretical. He argues that the concept is known directly to be instantiated, through self-awareness; and that to maintain that the concept is theoretical involves an infinite regress. I show that Schueler’s argument fails because all our concepts are theoretical in the sense that we may be mistaken in applying them to our experience. As a consequence, it is conceivable that direct introspection of an event as a purposive action may be mistaken. I indicate ways in which the eliminativist may be able to explain why our perception and introspection is afflicted with systematic error.

What are the memory sources of dreaming? (2005)

by Tore Nielsen

Autopoiesis and knowledge in self-sustaining organizational systems

by William P. Hall

2010: Hall, W.P., Nousala, S. Autopoiesis and knowledge in self-sustaining organizational systems. 4th International Multi-Conference on Society, Cybernetics and Informatics: IMSCI 2010, June 29th - July 2nd, 2010 – Orlando, Fla.

Knowledge and the communication of knowledge are critical for self-sustaining organizations comprised of people and... more Knowledge and the communication of knowledge are critical for self-sustaining organizations comprised of people and the tools and machines that extend peoples’ physical and cognitive capacities. Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela proposed the concept of autopoiesis (“self” + “production”) as a definition of life in the 1970s. Nicklas Luhmann extended this concept to establish a theory of social systems, where intangible human social systems were formed by recursive networks of communications. We show here that Luhmann fundamentally misunderstood Maturana and Varela’s autopoiesis by thinking that the self-observation necessary for self-maintenance formed a paradoxically vicious circle. Luhmann tried to resolve this apparent paradox by placing the communication networks on an imaginary plane orthogonal to the networked people. However, Karl Popper’s evolutionary epistemology and the theory of hierarchically complex systems turns what Luhmann thought was a vicious circle into a virtuous spiral of organizational learning and knowledge. There is no closed circle that needs to be explained via Luhmann’s extraordinarily paradoxical linguistic contortions.
Keywords: Autopoiesis, Organization Theory, Nicklas Luhman, Social Systems Theory, Self Observation, Karl Popper, Evolutionary Epistemology

Recall of the Visual Body Image Using a Novel Boundary Detection Task.

by Kay Walker