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The Observer (Newsletter/Journal) Archive
An Internet Newsletter / Journal on Autopoiesis & Enactive Cognitive Science
Edited and distributed by Randall Whitaker
1993 to 1997
[Introduction]
[Editorial Philosophy]
[Archive (of Back Issues)]
Last Update: 1 March 2001
Introduction
The Observer was a newsletter / journal made available over the Internet. It was established as a result of an August 1992 discussion at the Dublin City University conference on 'Autopoiesis and Perception'. Francisco Varela (one of autopoietic theory's co-creators) was asked (1) if there was or had been a forum dedicated to autopoietic theory and (2) whether such a forum would be constructive for international researchers interested in this work. Varela indicated there had never been such a forum, and he approved of the idea to set one up. Randall Whitaker (then at Umeå Universitet in Sweden) volunteered to establish and manage The Observer as an email periodical. The inaugural issue was broadcast to 28 subscribers in February 1993. In two years, the subscriber population had grown to 15 times its initial size.
Effective with issue #13 (May 1997), The Observer shifted to the World Wide Web as its primary venue. This move was in accordance with subscribers' views in response to an autumn 1996 survey.
The Observer has been made obsolete by Webpages and discussion forums on the Internet.
This newsletter / journal has now been discontinued.
This site is maintained only for archival purposes.
Editorial Philosophy
The editorial philosophy had been aimed at accomplishing four goals:
- To provide a vehicle for scholarly discussion focused on autopoietic theory and enactive cognitive science
- To make this forum available to the widest international audience
- To provide basic resources useful for scholars at all levels of familiarity with Maturana and Varela's work
- To make this work useful for scholars in all the diverse fields where autopoiesis is invoked
The Observer had pursued these goals by providing a forum in which
relevant issues can be presented, background analyses offered, books reviewed,
and researchers introduced. In addition to the newsletter / journal, basic resource materials on autopoietic theory have been generated, compiled, and made available as ASCII text files. These resources supplement the forum by giving the global autopoiesis community tools facilitating their understanding and application of Maturana and Varela's work.
The Archive of Back Issues
This section affords you access to the archived issues of The Observer. You can access the issues directly through your Web browser, or you can download them to your computer from one or another FTP site.
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To Browse Back Issues of The Observer:
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The following links allow you to browse the back issues of The Observer, which are listed and indexed in chronological order.
There are two distinct segments of the archive:
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Issues 1 - 12 (1993-1996)
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The first 12 issues of The Observer originally existed only as ASCII text files. HTML versions of these initial releases were crafted by Kevin McGee to provide access to the newsletter for the proliferating audience of the World Wide Web.
Thanks, Kevin!
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Issues 13 - ?? (1997-??)
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Beginning with issue #13 (May 1997), HTML versions of The Observer are being archived here at The Observer Web.
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To Download Back Issues of The Observer:
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You can FTP the ASCII text back issues of The Observer from:
- The Dublin City University FTP Site
Thanks to Barry McMullin!
ftp://ftp.eeng.dcu.ie/pub/autonomy/observer
- The ThinkNet FTP site
Thanks to Kent Palmer!
ftp://ftp.std.com/obi/Zines/Thinknet/Observer.newsletter
- ISSUE #1: 10 February, 1993
- WELCOME!
- SCOPE FOR THE FORUM!
- CONTENTS
- QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
- What are the problems in introducing people to this area?
- How can I survey the available literature?
- BOOK REVIEWS: The Embodied Mind, by Varela, Thompson, & Rosch
- Review 1: Anand Rangarajan
- Review 2: Randall Whitaker
- EPILOGUE
- ISSUE #2: 1 March, 1993
- CORRESPONDENCE
- INTRODUCTIONS
- Barry McMullin
- QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
- Q: To What Extent Has Autopoiesis Been Related to
Information Technology (IT)?
- ISSUE #3: 10 March, 1993
- NEWS! NEWS! NEWS!
- A new resource for those interested in Autopoiesis!
- TECHNICAL / THEORETICAL ISSUES
- Foundational Principles of Autopoietic Theory Applied to the 'Game of Life', by Barry McMullin
- ISSUE #4: 18 March, 1993
- SPECIAL ISSUE: Topical Index to Autopoiesis and Cognition
- NOTE: The index is also available in HTML format here on the Observer Web.
- ISSUE #5: 28 March, 1993
- NOTES FROM THE EDITOR
- INTRODUCTIONS
- AUTOPOIESIS AND ARTIFICIAL LIFE (A-LIFE): RESPONSES & DISCUSSION
- I: Specific Responses to Barry's Line of Questioning
- II: General Responses to Barry's Line of Questioning
- CLOSING COMMENTS
- ISSUE #6: 22 April, 1993
- CORRESPONDENCE
- GEORGE SPENCER BROWN: LAWS OF FORM
- ENACTIVE COGNITIVE SCIENCE
- AUTOPOIESIS & ARTIFICIAL LIFE (A-LIFE)
- ISSUE #7: 23 September, 1993
- NOTES FROM THE EDITOR
- UPDATE ON ASCII TEXT RESOURCES AVAILABLE
- ANNOUNCEMENT
- CORRESPONDENCE
- Jeremy Taylor: Games of Life; The Hackers Guide to Evolution
- AUTOPOIESIS & ARTIFICIAL LIFE (A-LIFE)
- CODA
- ISSUE #8: 24 October, 1993
- NOTES FROM THE EDITOR
- CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT
- 'Artificial Life: A Bridge Towards a New Artificial Intelligence'
- AUTOPOIESIS & ARTIFICIAL LIFE (A-LIFE)
- Part I: An Autopoiesis Simulator
- Part II: Is There Life in C-Life?
- GETTING STARTED WITH AUTOPOIESIS
- AUTOPOIESIS, ONTOLOGY, AND EPISTEMOLOGY: SOME COMMENTS
- ISSUE #9: 15 March, 1994
- CORRESPONDENCE
- UPDATE ON ASCII TEXT RESOURCES AVAILABLE
- NEW RESOURCES: CALL
- NEWS! NEWS! NEWS! NEWS!
- George Spencer Brown's Laws of Form is being republished!
- John Mingers, Self-Producing Systems
- AUTOPOIESIS AND SOCIAL SYSTEMS
- I. Humberto Maturana (1980) on Social Systems
- II. Zeleny (1985): Suggested Precursors to Autopoiesis and Social Systems
- EPILOGUE
- ISSUE #10: 15 April, 1995
- CORRESPONDENCE
- AUTOPOIESIS AND SOCIAL SYSTEMS
- Benseler (1980): Maturana and Marx
- Sociocultural Systems Theoretic Critique: Braten
- Legal Application of Autopoietic Theory: Luhmann and His Critics
- A Pause to Consider: Can Autopoietic Theory Be Extended to Social Systems?
- Francisco Varela on Social Systems
- The Point of Conflict: Formal vs. Functional Aspects of Autopoietic Theory
- Sociocultural Application of Autopoietic Theory: Hejl
- EPILOGUE
- ISSUE #11: 26 December, 1995
- ANNOUNCEMENTS
- New WWW Resource
- Status of ASCII Resources
- Paper Available Via Internet
- Journal of Possible Interest
- BOOK REVIEW
- Efran, Lukens, and Lukens, Language, Structure, and Change: Frameworks of Meaning in Psychotherapy
- INTRODUCTION
- Andrew Favell
- A LETTER FROM THE FRONT
- Why You Won't Find 'Autopoiesis' in the Encyclopaedia Brittanica
- REPORT ON RELEVANT EVENT
- Workshop on 'Groupware for Self-Organising Units -- The Autopoietic Turn in Organisation Science and its Relevance for CSCW'
- EPILOGUE
- ISSUE #12: 24 July, 1996
- ANNOUNCEMENTS!
- New WWW Resources
New Enactive Cognition Web Site
New 'Laws of Form' Web Site
News about ThinkNet -- home of the autopoiesis discussion
listserv
- CALL FOR DISCUSSION
- Should The Observer change venues?
- ARTICLE:
- In Search of the Mind by Jane Cull
- A LETTER FROM THE FRONT
- Why You Won't Find 'Autopoiesis' in the Encyclopaedia Brittanica
- ISSUE #13: 13 May, 1997
- NOTES FROM THE EDITOR
- Information on The Observer's shift from email to WWW.
- NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
- BOOK REVIEW:
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John Mingers:
Self-Producing Systems: Implications and Applications of Autopoiesis
Plenum Press, 1995.
by Kevin McGee
- ARTICLE:
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The Uncertainty of Certainty
by Jane Cull
- ARTICLE:
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Bateson, Capra, and Dell
Some Comments Motivated by Capra's The Web of Life
by Phillip Guddemi
