Humberto Maturana Romesín (September 14, 1928 – May 6, 2021) was a Chilean

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual cell, a multicellular organism, or a community of interacting populations. They usually specialize ...

and

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

. Many consider him a member of a group of

second-order cybernetics Second-order cybernetics, also known as the cybernetics of cybernetics, is the recursive application of cybernetics to itself and the reflexive practice of cybernetics according to such a critique. It is cybernetics where "the role of the observer ...

theoreticians such as

Heinz von Foerster Heinz von Foerster ( German spelling: Heinz von Förster; November 13, 1911 – October 2, 2002) was an Austrian American scientist combining physics and philosophy, and widely attributed as the originator of Second-order cybernetics. He was twice ...

, Gordon Pask, Herbert Brün and Ernst von Glasersfeld. Maturana, along with Francisco Varela and Ricardo B. Uribe, was particularly known for creating the term "

autopoiesis The term autopoiesis () refers to a system capable of producing and maintaining itself by creating its own parts. The term was introduced in the 1972 publication '' Autopoiesis and Cognition: The Realization of the Living'' by Chilean biologists ...

" about the self-generating, self-maintaining structure in

living systems Living systems are open self-organizing life forms that interact with their environment. These systems are maintained by flows of information, energy and matter. In the last few decades, some scientists have proposed that a general living sys ...

, and concepts such as structural determinism and structural coupling. His work was influential in many fields, mainly the field of systems thinking and cybernetics. Overall, his work is concerned with the biology of cognition.Magnus Ramage, Karen Shipp (2012) ''Systems Thinkers'' Maturana (2002) insisted that autopoiesis exists only in the molecular domain, and he did not agree with the extension into sociology and other fields:

The molecular domain is the only domain of entities that through their interactions give rise to an open ended diversity of entities (with different dynamic architectures) of the same kind in a dynamic that can give rise to an open ended diversity of recursive processes that in their turn give rise to the composition of an open ended diversity of singular dynamic entities.

Life and career

Maturana was born in

Santiago, Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

. After completing secondary school at the Liceo Manuel de Salas in 1947, he enrolled at the

University of Chile The University of Chile ( es, Universidad de Chile) is a public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

, studying first medicine in Santiago, then biology in London and Cambridge, Mass. In 1954, he obtained a scholarship from the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropy, philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, aft ...

to study

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having i ...

and

neurophysiology Neurophysiology is a branch of physiology and neuroscience that studies nervous system function rather than nervous system architecture. This area aids in the diagnosis and monitoring of neurological diseases. Historically, it has been dominated ...

with J. Z. Young (who later wrote the foreword to ''The Tree of Knowledge'') at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

. He obtained a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. al ...

in biology from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

in 1958. He worked in

neuroscience Neuroscience is the science, scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a Multidisciplinary approach, multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, an ...

at the University of Chile, in the ''Biología del Conocer'' (Biology of Knowing) research center. Maturana's work has been developed and integrated into the work on ontological coaching developed by

Fernando Flores Carlos Fernando Flores Labra (born January 9, 1943) is a Chilean engineer, entrepreneur and politician. He is a former cabinet minister of president Salvador Allende and was senator for the Arica and Parinacota and Tarapacá regions between 2 ...

and Julio Olalla. In 1994, he received Chile's National Prize for Natural Sciences. Maturana established his own reflection and research center, the Instituto de Formación Matriztica. In 2020 he was awarded an honorary fellowship of the

Cybernetics Society The Cybernetics Society is a UK-based learned society that exists to promote the understanding of Cybernetics. The core activity of the Cybernetics Society is the organization and facilitation of scientific meetings, conferences, and social events. ...

. Maturana died in Santiago on May 6, 2021, at age 92, due to pneumonia.

Work

Maturana's research interest concerns concepts like cognition, autopoiesis, languaging, zero time cybernetics and structural determined systems. Maturana's work extends to

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...

and cognitive science and even to

family therapy Family therapy (also referred to as family counseling, family systems therapy, marriage and family therapy, couple and family therapy) is a branch of psychology and clinical social work that works with families and couples in intimate relation ...

. He was inspired by the work of the biologist

Jakob von Uexküll Jakob may refer to: People * Jakob (given name), including a list of people with the name * Jakob (surname), including a list of people with the name Other * Jakob (band), a New Zealand band, and the title of their 1999 EP * Max Jakob Memorial Aw ...

. His inspiration for his work in cognition came while he was a medical student and became seriously ill with tuberculosis. Confined in a sanatorium with very little to read, he spent time reflecting on his condition and the nature of life. What he came to realize was "that what was peculiar to living systems was that they were discrete autonomous entities such that all the processes that they lived, they lived in reference to themselves ... whether a dog bites me or doesn't bite me, it is doing something that has to do with itself." This paradigm of autonomy formed the basis of his studies and work. Maturana and his student Francisco Varela were the first to define and employ the concept of "

", which was Maturana's original idea. Aside from making important contributions to the field of

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

, Maturana is associated with an

epistemology Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics. Epi ...

built upon

empirical Empirical evidence for a proposition is evidence, i.e. what supports or counters this proposition, that is constituted by or accessible to sense experience or experimental procedure. Empirical evidence is of central importance to the sciences and ...

findings of

neurobiology Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, developme ...

. Maturana and Varela wrote in their Santiago Theory of Cognition: "

Living systems Living systems are open self-organizing life forms that interact with their environment. These systems are maintained by flows of information, energy and matter. In the last few decades, some scientists have proposed that a general living sys ...

are cognitive systems, and living as a process is a process of cognition. This statement is valid for all organisms, with or without a nervous system."

Reflections on life and association with Francisco Varela

In an article in ''Constructivist Foundations''. Maturana described the origins of the concept of autopoiesis and his collaboration with Varela.

In popular culture

Maturana influenced — and appears in coded form as a character in the novel ''Replay'' by German author Benjamin Stein.

Publications

The initial paper which stands as a prelude to all that followed:
''Biology of Cognition''
Humberto R. Maturana. Biological Computer Laboratory Research Report BCL 9.0. Urbana IL: University of Illinois, 1970. As Reprinted in: ''Autopoiesis and Cognition: The Realization of the Living.'' Dordecht: D. Reidel Publishing Co., 1980, pp. 5–58.

Books

* 1979 '' Autopoiesis and Cognition: The Realization of the Living'' With Francisco Varela. (Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science). ISBN 90-277-1015-5. * 1984 ''The tree of knowledge. Biological basis of human understanding''. With Francisco Varela Revised edition (92) The Tree of Knowledge: Biological Roots of Human Understanding. * 1990 ''Biology of Cognition and epistemology''. Ed Universidad de la Frontera. Temuco, Chile. * 1992 ''Conversations with Humberto Maturana: Questions to biologist Psychotherapist''. With K. Ludewig. Ed Universidad de la Frontera. Temuco, Chile. 1992. * 1994 ''Reflections and Conversations''. With Kurt Ludewig. Collection Family Institute. FUPALI Ed. Cordova. 1994 * 1994 ''Democracy is a Work of Art''. Collection Roundtable. Linotype Ed Bogota Bolivar y Cia. * 1997 ''Objectivity - An argument to force''. Santiago de Chile: Ed Dolmen. * 1997 ''Machines and living things. Autopoiese to do Organização Vivo''. With Francisco Varela Porto Alegre: Medical Arts, 1997. * 2004 ''From Being to Doing, The Origins of the Biology of Cognition.'' With Bernhard Poerksen. Paperback, 2004 * 2009 ''The Origins of humanness in the Biology of Love''. With Gerda Verden-Zoller and Pille Bunnell. * 2004 ''From biology to psychology''. Paperback. * 2009 ''Sense of humanity''. Paperback. * 2008 ''Habitar humano en seis ensayos de biología-cultural''. With Ximena Dávila. * 2012 ''The Origin of Humanness in the Biology of Love.'' With Gerda Verden-Zöller. Edited by Pille Bunnell. Philosophy Document Center, Charlottesville VA; Exeter UK: Imprint Academic, Imprint Academic. * 2015 ''El árbol del vivir''. With Ximena Dávila. * 2019 ''Historia de nuestro vivir cotidiano''. With Ximena Dávila.-->

References

External links

Humberto Maturana official websiteCultural Biology Certification - BrazilBiology of Cognition Lab websiteAppreciation of Maturana's work and philosophy
(in Spanish with English subtitles) {{DEFAULTSORT:Maturana, Humberto 1928 births 2021 deaths 20th-century Chilean non-fiction writers 20th-century Chilean male writers 21st-century Chilean non-fiction writers 21st-century Chilean male writers 20th-century Chilean philosophers 21st-century philosophers Chilean biologists Chilean scientists Consciousness researchers and theorists Cyberneticists Systems biologists Systems psychologists Systems scientists Theoretical biologists Harvard University alumni Alumni of University College London People from Santiago Members of the Chilean Academy of Sciences Deaths from pneumonia in Chile Chilean non-fiction writers