Francisco Varela

Francisco Javier Varela García ( born September 7, 1946 in Santiago de Chile, † 28 May 2001, Paris) was a Chilean biologist, philosopher and neuroscientist who was best known for introducing the concept of autopoiesis along with Humberto Maturana.

Life

Varela graduated in 1967 his Master of Science degree in Biology at the resident in Santiago de Chile University of Chile. In 1968 he was awarded a doctoral fellowship at Harvard University for his achievements in biology. There he earned his doctorate in 1970 ( Ph.D.) in biology. There followed various teaching and research activities, including Santiago, Boston ( Harvard ), New York, Paris, Zurich and Frankfurt.

In 1987 he was a research coordinator and moderator of the first Mind and Life Dialogue of 1990 officially established the Mind and Life Institute, in the premises of the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala in October, among other things took place with Eleanor Rosch. At the conference, general topics were presented from cognitive science.

In 1988, Varela was appointed Research Director of the Department of Neuro dynamics of the CNRS in Paris, where he remained until his death. He was also Head of the Neurodynamics Unit at the Hôpital de la Salpêtrière in Paris. His last academic lecture held Varela on 24 March 2000 at the 8th Mind and Life Conference, which took place under the direction of Daniel Goleman in Dharamsala. The topic of the lecture was Scientific Exploration of Consciousness.

2001 Varela died of his cancer. Under the title of Monte Grande - What is Life? Franz Reichle created in 2004 a documentary on the life and work Varelas. In the film come next Varela himself many of his colleagues and friends to word, including the Dalai Lama, Heinz von Foerster, Evan Thompson, Anne Harrington and Humberto Maturana.

Francisco Varela was married several times and is the father of three children, including Leonor Varela.

The Tree of Knowledge (El árbol del conocimiento )

Francisco Varela has traced together with his teacher Humberto Maturana and colleagues biological history of life since the birth of the world and new emphasis.

→ Main article: The Tree of Knowledge

Bibliography

German

  • JW Hayward, Francisco Varela: Daring ways of thinking: Scientists in Dialogue with the Dalai Lama. 2nd edition. Piper Verlag, Munich / Zurich 1998, ISBN 3-492-22115-7.
  • H. Maturana, F. Varela: Tree of Knowledge. The Biological Roots of Human Understanding. Goldmann, 1987, ISBN 3-442-11460-8.
  • F. Varela: Cognitive Science cognition technology. A sketch of current perspectives. 3rd edition. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main 1993, ISBN 3-518-28482-7.
  • Francisco Varela: sleep, dreams and death. Diederichs, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-492-23014-8.
  • F. Varela: Ethical skill. Campus Verlag, Frankfurt / New York 1994, ISBN 3-593-35039-4.
  • F. Varela, E. Thompson, E. Rosch: The middle path of knowledge: the relationship between the world and in cognitive science - bridging the gap between scientific theory and human experience. Goldmann, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-442-12514-6.

English

  • H. Maturana, F. Varela: Autopoiesis and Cognition: The Realization of the Living. Springer - Verlag, 1991, ISBN 90-277-1016-3.
  • F. Varela: Principles of Biological Autonomy. Appleton & Lange, 1997, ISBN 0-444-00321-5.
  • D. Stein, F. Varela ( Eds.): Thinking About Biology: An Introduction to Theoretical Biology. Perseus Books, 1993, ISBN 0-201-62453-2.
  • F. Varela, J. Shear (ed.): The View from Within: First-Person Methodologies in the Study of Consciousness. Imprint Academic, London 1999, ISBN 0-907845-25-8.
  • J. Petitot, F. Varela, B. Pachoud, J -M. Roy (ed.) Naturalizing Phenomenology: Contemporary Issues in Phenomenology and Cognitive Science. Stanford University Press, Stanford, 2000, ISBN 0-8047-3610-3.
  • F. Varela: Invitation aux sciences Cognition. Seuil, Paris 1997, ISBN 2-02-028743-9.

Filmography

  • Franz Reichle: Monte Grande - What is life? - Documentary about the life and work of Francisco J. Varela, 2006 - DVD
  • Franz Reichle: Francisco Pancho Cisco - Documentary - autobiography by Francisco J. Varela, 2011 - DVD
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