Self-organization and autonomy: Emergence of degrees of freedom in dynamical systems

Filosofia Unisinos 17 (2) (2016)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

Approached from the point of view of the basic processes that constitute the self-organization of living systems, autonomy means the generation of identity and the minimal unity of a system, as a consequence of the self-production of internal components and processes of an organism, self-regulation of its internal variables, and self-sustaining of its internal resources. However, a living system is also a dynamical system, which means that the emergence of identity and the unity of the system is inseparable from the generation of its degrees of freedom. These degrees of freedom have different levels of complexity, given by the multidimensional patterns instantiating them, offering various alternatives to respond to environmental perturbation. From the point of view of the multidimensionality of degrees of freedom of a living system, which depends on the degree of self-organization and complexity of the organism, one can distinguish three types of autonomy: minimal or basic autonomy, sensorimotor autonomy, and strong autonomy. Put in these terms, autonomy depends on the abilities of the organism to access some degrees of freedom of higher complexity, to enhance its degrees of freedom by its coupling with the environment, as a result of its bodily skills, and to consciously control and monitorize its degrees of freedom, as a result of its higher-order cognitive abilities. Keywords: self-organization, autonomy, degrees of freedom, dynamical system, autopoietic system.

Other Versions

No versions found

Links

PhilArchive

    This entry is not archived by us. If you are the author and have permission from the publisher, we recommend that you archive it. Many publishers automatically grant permission to authors to archive pre-prints. By uploading a copy of your work, you will enable us to better index it, making it easier to find.

    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 102,283

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Self‐Mastery.Ian Carter - 1999 - In A Measure of Freedom. Oxford University Press.
Social Autopoiesis?H. Urrestarazu - 2014 - Constructivist Foundations 9 (2):153-166.
Autonomy.Ellen Frankel Paul, Fred Dycus Miller & Jeffrey Paul (eds.) - 2003 - Cambridge University Press.

Analytics

Added to PP
2024-11-12

Downloads
2 (#1,901,195)

6 months
2 (#1,644,875)

Historical graph of downloads

Sorry, there are not enough data points to plot this chart.
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Teodor Negru
Al.I.Cuza Iasi University of Iasi

References found in this work

No references found.

Add more references