Slimes and cyborgs: Stretching the boundaries of life

Mark Miller; Kathryn Nave

doi:10.1177/1059712319843267

Slimes and cyborgs: Stretching the boundaries of life

Mark Miller, Kathryn Nave

School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment/debate › peer-review

Abstract

The extension of the organism into the environment, suggested by some interpretations of autopoiesis, can seem disconcerting. Yet we argue that Villalobos and Razeto-Barry’s attempt to reinscribe the organism inside the physical body, via the criterion of autopoietically produced material coherence, cannot account for the dynamical and highly changeable nature of life. A successful science of life must do justice not only to the life forms that enjoy clear boundaries but also to the squishy, the strange and the technologically modified.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	43-44
Journal	Adaptive Behavior
Volume	28
Issue number	1
Early online date	15 Apr 2019
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/1059712319843267
Publication status	Published - Feb 2020

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

enactive cognition
process ontology
extended life

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10.1177/1059712319843267

XSPECT: Expecting Ourselves: Embodied Prediction and the Construction of Conscious Experience
Clark, A. & Podhortzer Carmel, D.
EU government bodies
1/01/17 → 30/09/21
Project: Research

Cite this

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title = "Slimes and cyborgs: Stretching the boundaries of life",

abstract = "The extension of the organism into the environment, suggested by some interpretations of autopoiesis, can seem disconcerting. Yet we argue that Villalobos and Razeto-Barry{\textquoteright}s attempt to reinscribe the organism inside the physical body, via the criterion of autopoietically produced material coherence, cannot account for the dynamical and highly changeable nature of life. A successful science of life must do justice not only to the life forms that enjoy clear boundaries but also to the squishy, the strange and the technologically modified.",

keywords = "enactive cognition, process ontology, extended life",

author = "Mark Miller and Kathryn Nave",

note = "The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The authors received funding from European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant 2016",

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AU - Miller, Mark

AU - Nave, Kathryn

N1 - The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The authors received funding from European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant 2016

PY - 2020/2

Y1 - 2020/2

N2 - The extension of the organism into the environment, suggested by some interpretations of autopoiesis, can seem disconcerting. Yet we argue that Villalobos and Razeto-Barry’s attempt to reinscribe the organism inside the physical body, via the criterion of autopoietically produced material coherence, cannot account for the dynamical and highly changeable nature of life. A successful science of life must do justice not only to the life forms that enjoy clear boundaries but also to the squishy, the strange and the technologically modified.

AB - The extension of the organism into the environment, suggested by some interpretations of autopoiesis, can seem disconcerting. Yet we argue that Villalobos and Razeto-Barry’s attempt to reinscribe the organism inside the physical body, via the criterion of autopoietically produced material coherence, cannot account for the dynamical and highly changeable nature of life. A successful science of life must do justice not only to the life forms that enjoy clear boundaries but also to the squishy, the strange and the technologically modified.

KW - enactive cognition

KW - process ontology

KW - extended life

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DO - 10.1177/1059712319843267

M3 - Comment/debate

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EP - 44

JO - Adaptive Behavior

JF - Adaptive Behavior

IS - 1

ER -

Slimes and cyborgs: Stretching the boundaries of life

Abstract

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

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Projects

XSPECT: Expecting Ourselves: Embodied Prediction and the Construction of Conscious Experience

Cite this