Snakes all the Way Down: Varela’s Calculus for Self-Reference and the Praxis of Paradise

This contribution seeks to commemorate Francisco Varela’s formal conceptions of self-reference, providing an overview of his writings while shedding some light in the praxis of self-reference, from where a future research agenda can be derived. The architecture of Varela’s thinking, determined by the interrelated notions of autopoiesis, autonomy, closure and self-reference, was examined. The emphasis was on the development and expansions of his calculus for self-reference from George Spencer Brown’s Laws of Form. After dealing with some of the criticism launched at both works, an appraisal of the praxis of self-reference of Varela’s thinking in action was given. The outlook rounds up this contribution, shedding some light on a possible future research agenda for the formalization of theory and praxis of self-reference. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.