30 Years of Computational Autopoiesis:
A Review
Abstract:
Computational Autopoiesis--the realisation of autopoietic
entities in computational media--holds an important and
distinctive role within the field of Artificial Life. Its
earliest formulation by Francisco Varela, Humberto Maturana and
Ricardo Uribe was
seminal in demonstrating the use of an artificial,
computational, medium to explore the most basic question of the
abstract nature of living systems - over a decade in advance of
the first Santa Fe Workshop on Artificial Life. The research
programme it originated has generated substantive
demonstrations of progressively richer, life-like, phenomena.
It has also sharply illuminated both conceptual and
methodological problems in the field. This paper provides an
integrative overview of the sometimes disparate
work in this area, and argues that Computational
Autopoiesis continues to provide an effective framework for
addressing key open problems in Artificial Life.
Copyright © 2004 All Rights Reserved.
Timestamp: 2004-06-14
Barry.McMullin@dcu.ie