Maturana and Varela have developed important theories about living systems (autopoiesis) and also about the brain/nervous system and cognition. These theories have strongly subjectivist implications leading to the view that our explanations and descriptions reflect the structure of the subject, rather than that of an objective world, and that we therefore construct the world which we experi¬ence. This paper analyzes Maturana’s ideas in terms of the main philosophical traditions – empiricism, idealism, and realism – showing that they are a blend of both realist and antirealist positions. It then provides a critique of Maturana’s radical subjectivism and argues that his theory is best seen as compatible with critical realism.

Key words: autopoiesis, cognition, epistemology, ontology, critical realism.

Maturana and Varela developed the concept of autopoiesis to explain the phenomena of living organisms. They went further and postulated theories concerning the nervous system and the development of cognition. These theories have radical conclusions concerning human thought, language, and social activity. This paper aims to introduce these ideas and to explore the main implications. It also discusses the application of these cognitive theories in three separate domains – computer systems design, family therapy, and the Law.

Key words: autopoiesis, cognition, language, law, nervous system, psychotherapy, systems design.

The theory of autopoiesis developed by Maturana and Varela to explain living systems has been applied in various ways to social systems. However, whether such an application can be more than an analogy or metaphor is highly debatable. Maturana himself has generally not claimed that social systems were themselves autopoietic, but were the medium within which autopoietic systems could interact and become structurally coupled. This paper contrasts autopoiesis, and Maturana’s social theory, with Giddens’ theory of structuration which, at first sight, appears quite similar. The conclusion is that whilst autopoiesis does not fit structuration theory, there are valuable complementarities with Maturana’s social theory.

Key words: autopoiesis, nomic, self-reference, socialtheory, structuration theory.

This paper presents a critical evaluation of the impact of Maturana’s constructivist approach to (systemic) family therapy. After an historical introduction and a brief description of the main ideas, a number of criticisms are considered. These concern the radical antirealist epistemology, and problems in dealing with the social context of the family, and power relations within the family

Key words: autopoiesis, constructivism, epistemology, systemic therapy, family therapy, feminism, power, social structure

Humberto Maturana (1928-) and Francisco Varela (1946–2001) have made a major contribution to systems theory by empirically and theoretically defi ning, describing, and interpreting living systems as autopoietic. Additionally, they have substantially developed dynamic systems perspectives on biology of cognition, perception and action, immunology, neurophenomenology, ethics, and pedagogy.

This paper presents a review of the work of the prestigious biologist, philosopher and epistemologist Chilean Humberto Maturana. Maturana’s thinking is analyzed and ontology, epistemology and language theory proposed by Maturana is disclosed, as well as his conception about the human being, and the praxis-expressive configuration, in other words, language. The main foundations, proposals and scientific categories that underlies in his research are presented about languaging and emotioning. This paper aims to present and make understandable Maturana’s most significant contributions, and in this way, to provide a comprehensive reading a configurational view and a holistic understanding of the scientific thought of Humberto Maturana, especially as related to behavior and his language theory.

Key words: humberto maturana, science, philosophy, epistemology, human experience, conduct, language.