The Systems View of Life A Unifying Conception of Mind, Matter, and Life

Author(s)
Fritjof Capra
Center for Ecoliteracy, Berkeley
Keywords
Systems theory; Ecology
Systems view of life; Systemic thinking; Living networks; Autopoiesis; Cognition; Santiago theory; Consciousness; Prebiotic evolution

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URI
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12424/60885
Online Access
http://www.cosmosandhistory.org/index.php/journal/article/view/503
Abstract
Over the last thirty years, a new systemic understanding of life has emerged at the forefront of science. It integrates four dimensions of life: the biological, the cognitive, the social, and the ecological dimension. At the core of this new understanding we find a fundamental change of metaphors: from seeing the world as a machine to understanding it as a network. One of the most radical philosophical implications of the systems view of life is a new conception of mind and consciousness which, for the first time, overcomes the Cartesian division between mind and matter.
Date
2015-11-29
Type
Peer-reviewed Article
Identifier
oai:ojs.cosmosandhistory.org:article/503
http://www.cosmosandhistory.org/index.php/journal/article/view/503
Copyright/License
<!--Creative Commons License--><a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/"><img style="border-width: 0pt" src="http://creativecommons.org/images/public/somerights20.png" alt="Creative Commons License" /></a><br />This work is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License</a>.<!--/Creative Commons License--><!-- <rdf:RDF xmlns="http://web.resource.org/cc/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"> <Work rdf:about=""> <license rdf:resource="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/"></license> <dc:title>Cosmos and History</dc:title> <dc:date>2005</dc:date> <dc:description>Cosmos and History: The Journal of Natural and Social Philosophy</dc:description> <dc:creator><Agent><dc:title>Paul Ashton</dc:title></Agent></dc:creator> <dc:rights><Agent><dc:title>Cosmos and History</dc:title></Agent></dc:rights> <dc:type rdf:resource="http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text" /> <dc:source rdf:resource="http://www.cosmosandhistory.org" /> </Work> <License rdf:about="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/"><permits rdf:resource="http://web.resource.org/cc/Reproduction"></permits><permits rdf:resource="http://web.resource.org/cc/Distribution"></permits><requires rdf:resource="http://web.resource.org/cc/Notice" /><requires rdf:resource="http://web.resource.org/cc/Attribution" /><prohibits rdf:resource="http://web.resource.org/cc/CommercialUse"></prohibits></License></rdf:RDF> --><br /> <br />In short, copyright for articles published in this journal is retained by the authors, with first publication rights granted to the journal. By virtue of their appearance in this open access journal, articles are free to use, with proper attribution, in educational and other non-commercial settings.
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