Tree of knowledge: biological roots of human understanding. 2nd edition, supplemented. Maturana U.,

Before you is a brilliant study of Chilean biologists Umberto Maturana and Francisco Varels. It presents the foundations of an alternative theory of cognition, the main provisions of which are contrasted with the classical theory of reflection of reality (representative-actionism). The plot of this book is "Knowledge of how we know." Its authors represent a new look at the process of cognition, which has important social and ethical significance, since, in their conviction, the only world that we see, we create in the process of interaction with other people. According to the authors, cognition does not occur by reflecting the world external to it in the minds of the subject, but represents the process of the formation of the world through the interaction between the brain, body and the external environment. The main role in it belongs to the experience, which allows you to overcome the contrast of the cognitive and knowable. The basis of the new theory is the concept of cellular autopoiesis and the principle of self -reproduction of closed (autonomous) systems. The idea of ​​autopoies, proposed by the authors of this book, may seem quite unusual for our scientific community, including biologists. Although in the West this theory is used in various fields of knowledge - from the theory of systems to sociology and architecture, for us it is still unusual theoretical knowledge, based not on physical, but on biological material. And since it is extremely important, with a critical understanding of any material, to keep in mind various points of view in order to agree or argue with them, it is necessary to familiarize yourself with the theory presented in this book, even if the reader adheres to other views on the questions affected. The book is written in the calculation of a wide audience - the same for students, specialists and scientists - and generously illustrated by examples from biology, linguistics and socio -cultural phenomena. It is available for understanding even non -specialists and will be useful to everyone who is interested in the development of modern science.