| Popis: |
Stuart Kauffman's work on complexity and self-organiza- tion echoes ideas found in writings of C. S. Peirce and G. W. F. Hegel. Included in these common threads are the understanding of science as historical narrative, the recognition of emergence as a phenom- enon associated with complex systems, and the appreciation of agency as an emergent property that serves as both a creative and determin- ing force in evolution. The breadth of background and level of expertise represented by the au- thors of essays in this section of Zygon speak to the range of disciplinary connections as well as the depth of ideas found in Stuart Kauffman's ar- ticulation of complexity theory (Kauffman 1995; 2000). The essays were first presented at a conference at which the authors were panelists. The panel itself demonstrates key elements of Kauffman's model: organization was evident, elements were selected out of the space of possibilities, mean- ingful connections were made, and then it was left to the biologist to tell the story. Consistent with the model, I structure these comments at the edge of chaos and hope to narrate a story that, like the story of life itself, is more intelligible than predictable. Just as the panelists found that Kauffman's ideas are not all that new and have parallels in the ideas of C. S. Peirce and G. W. F. Hegel, so we should remember that elements of Kauffman's ideas are rooted in particular areas of biology—ecology, morphogenetics, and paleontology, for example. Among scientists, biologists may be best positioned to receive Kauffman's |
