Introduction: Towards an Organism-Oriented Ontology

Abstract

The introduction proposes a new concept of an organism-oriented ontology, which encompasses different threads coming from systems theory, the notion of autopoiesis, and the philosophy of biology, and relates them to actual and ‘vital’ ideas circulating in contemporary philosophy. An organism-oriented ontology pursues the Kantian idea that some characteristics defining living beings – organisms – might be helpful to reconceptualise traditional ontology. In this respect, the notion of an organism-oriented ontology engages with the controversies concerning whether the living system is closed or open, whether it follows a certain teleology and purpose, or, on the contrary, is absolutely contingent and unpredictable. An organism-oriented ontology examines the relationships of continuity and discontinuity between different levels of a living system, and also between organisms of different complexity. It problematises the relationship between organisms and technological objects and extensions, asking to what extent these technological extensions can be seen as part of the organism.