An extension of the calculus of indications (of G. Spencer Brown) is presented to encompass all occurrences of self-referential situations. This is done through the introduction of a third state in the form of indication, a state seen to arise autonomously by self-indication. The new extended calculus is fully developed, and some of its consequences for systems, logic and epistemology are discussed.

Key words: self-reference, self-referential systems, calculus of indications, paradoxes, autonomy

Excerpt: Shortly after his arrival in the USA, Watzlawick started to work as a research associate of the Mental Research Institute in Palo Alto – an Institute whose members had implemented, both in their therapeutic work and in its systematic investigation, the general insights of Gregory Bateson and Don D. Jackson concerning the essential character of insane and pathological behaviour. In 1967 Watzlawick began to teach at Stanford University, was active as therapist and communication scientist, advised companies and concerns, and in his books described paradoxes and snares in communication. These publications demonstrate, in particular, the practical consequences of constructivist and systemic thinking: one realises how conceptions arise that lead to suffering, how they become rigid, and how they may be – owing to successful intervention – liquefied and dissolved again.

Upshot: Five years after the publication of the second special issue on Mitterer’s non-dualism and on the occasion of his 70th birthday I discuss his 2014 paper on “paradoxes of the new,” criticize his inconsistent definition of one of his core concepts, and present an overview of texts that have been published since the special issue.