Constructions of Self-Organising Systems

Abstract

The constructivist self-organising theories of George Kelly and Ernst von Glasersfeld are discussed in relation to Maturana’s theory of bringing forth reality. Taking Maturana’s dichotomy of the transcendental versus the constitutive pathways as the initial distinction, several of their similarities and differences are elaborated. While both camps agree on the issues of the abandonment of symbolic representations and the impossibility of instructional interactions, they polarise on the issue of reality. While Maturana sees reality as a step in an argument to compel or persuade another to carry out a specified behaviour, the constructivists rely on reality as a primary source of disconfirmation, and thus construe it as providing constraints to which we must fit.