Maturana, H. R., & Varela, F. J. (1980). Autopoiesis and Cognition: The Realization of the Living. D. Reidel (Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science 42). doi:10.1007/978-94-009-8947-4.
Not read: no lawful full text was reached on 2026-10-27 (see the status note). The summary is drawn from what the work is standardly cited for and from the exchange’s description of it. A reading should check it first.
Why this is here
A9 §2 cited it for components whose identity as components is partly constituted by their part in the organization, the first prior art for the recursive half of CLAIM-477, that constraints are realized by what they constrain. Its organization–structure split is close to the owner’s specification–realization pair. The record holds autopoiesis through later readings (LIT-1017, LIT-1018, LIT-1027 and THEORY-666), and closure of constraints in TERM-070, but not this book.