Profile: Francisco Varela

Francisco Varela portrait photograph

Francisco Varela (1946-2001) was a Chilean biologist, philosopher, and cognitive scientist who developed theories of autopoiesis and enactive cognition. His work integrated biological research with contemplative traditions to examine the nature of life and consciousness.

Working with Humberto Maturana, Varela developed the theory of autopoiesis - the process by which living systems continuously create and maintain themselves through recursive interactions with their environments. They proposed that life involves co-creation of organism and world through ongoing structural coupling rather than simple adaptation to pre-existing conditions.

Varela’s concept of “enactive cognition” suggested that mind emerges through embodied action and interaction with environments rather than representing an independent world. This perspective proposed that consciousness evolved through creative processes of world-making. His research on neural networks, immune systems, and emergence examined how complex behaviors arise from interactions between system components.

In later work, Varela collaborated with Buddhist contemplatives to study the neural correlates of meditative awareness, integrating first-person contemplative investigation with third-person scientific research. He co-founded the Mind & Life Institute with the Dalai Lama to facilitate dialogue between Buddhist philosophy and cognitive science.

Varela held positions at the University of Chile, University of Colorado, and University of Paris. He published extensively with Humberto Maturana, Evan Thompson, and Eleanor Rosch. His work influenced cognitive science, biology, artificial intelligence research, and ecological philosophy.

Key Concepts

Autopoiesis: Living systems continuously produce and maintain themselves through recursive interactions
Enactive Cognition: Cognition emerges through embodied action rather than representing pre-existing features
Structural Coupling: Co-evolutionary process by which organisms and environments mutually specify each other
Embodied Mind: Cognition shaped by biological structure and sensorimotor capabilities
Operational Closure: Living systems maintain autonomy while remaining open to environmental interactions

Essential Works

“Autopoiesis and Cognition: The Realization of the Living” (D. Reidel, 1980) - ISBN 978-90-277-1015-4 - With Humberto Maturana
“The Tree of Knowledge: The Biological Roots of Human Understanding” (Shambhala, 1987) - ISBN 978-0-87773-642-4 - With Humberto Maturana
“The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience” (MIT Press, 1991) - ISBN 978-0-262-72021-2 - With Evan Thompson and Eleanor Rosch
“Principles of Biological Autonomy” (North Holland, 1979) - ISBN 978-0-444-00153-7
“Ethical Know-How: Action, Wisdom, and Cognition” (Stanford University Press, 1999) - ISBN 978-0-804-73046-3

Selected Quotes

All doing is knowing, and all knowing is doing. — The Tree of Knowledge (1987)

We do not see the world as it is, we see the world as we are. — The Embodied Mind (1991)

Every act of knowing brings forth a world. — Principles of Biological Autonomy (1979)

The living being and its environment are mutually enfolded in multiple ways, and so what constitutes the world of a given organism is enacted by that organism’s history of structural coupling. — The Embodied Mind (1991)

Autopoiesis is the mechanism that makes living systems autonomous. — Autopoiesis and Cognition (1980)

Cognition is not the representation of a pre-given world by a pre-given mind, but is rather the enactment of a world and a mind. — The Embodied Mind (1991)

Evolution has no purpose; it simply drifts with the only constraint of maintaining structural coupling. — The Tree of Knowledge (1987)

Wisdom consists in being open to the groundlessness of experience. — Ethical Know-How (1999)

“If everybody would agree that their current reality is A reality, and that what we essentially share is our capacity for constructing a reality, then perhaps we could all agree on a meta-agreement for computing a reality that would mean survival and dignity for everyone on the planet, rather than each group being sold on a particular way of doing things.” - quoted on the Global Vision Website

Key Concepts

Essential Works

Selected Quotes

Further Reading