"It is actually by experience of our teleology – our wish to exist further on as a subject, not our imputation of purposes on objects – that teleology becomes a real rather than an intellectual principle... before being scientists we are first living beings, and as such we have the evidence of intrinsic teleology in us. And, in observing other creatures struggling to continue their existence – starting from simple bacteria that actively swim away from a chemical repellent – we can, by our own evidence, understand teleology as the governing force of the realm of the living. Theories about the living can only be conceived from the fragile and concerned perspective of the living itself."
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Andreas Weber and Francisco Varela 2002. "Life after Kant: Natural purposes and the autopoietic foundations of individuality". Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences 2, 97–125. p. 110; as cited in: Evan Thompson, "Life and mind: From autopoiesis to neurophenomenology. A tribute to Francisco Varela." Phenomenology and the cognitive Sciences 3.4 (2004): 381-398.
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Francisco Varela
Francisco Javier Varela García (September 7, 1946 – May 28, 2001) was a Chilean biologist and philosopher who, together with his teacher Humberto Maturana, is best known for introducing the concept of autopoiesis to biology.
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