What is This Encyclopaedia Autopoietica ?
The Encyclopaedia Autopoietica was compiled to provide an annotated compendium of the terminology developed and employed by Humberto R. Maturana and Francisco J. Varela in devising their theories on the biology of cognition, the phenomenology of the living, and enactive cognitive science. Strictly speaking, the Encyclopaedia is therefore more of a dictionary than an encyclopaedia per se. Because most of the seminal literature exists in the form of obscure papers or hard-to-find books, it was felt necessary to attempt to bring together such basic reference material in one resource which could be made globally accessible via the Internet through the World Wide Web nexus known as The Observer Web (Randall Whitaker / Umeå Universitet). The goal of this herculean project was to generate a centralized reference work to aid students, researchers, and other interested parties in accessing and exploring this significant body of work. The Encyclopaedia is designed to supplement and integrate the
