Spencer Brown Research Articles

On Samuel R. Delany's Dhalgren ed. by Bill Wood

Reviewed by: On Samuel R. Delany's Dhalgrened. by Bill Wood A.J. Rocca Delany's Autumnal Anthology. Bill Wood, ed. On Samuel R. Delany's Dhalgren. Fantastic Books, 2021. 271 pp. $31.35 hc, $21.99 pbk. [End Page 195] On Samuel R. Delany's Dhalgrenis an eclectic collection of reviews, essays, interviews, and one poem all relating to Delany's most famous novel, published in 1975. This anthology began its existence as a set of Xeroxed documents relating to Dhalgrenin Samuel Delany's personal possession and stayed that way for years before it was published. The book we have now exists thanks to Bill Wood, Delany's personal assistant, who helped to make some last-minute additions to the anthology and prepared it for publication with Fantastic Books. On Samuel R. Delany's Dhalgrenis arranged into six sections, covering everything from some contemporary reviews of Dhalgrento its relationship to various other texts, including John Ashbery's "The Instruction Manual" (1956) and Delany's own Hogg(1995). These unusual additions make this a unique collection that opens up a number of forgotten or otherwise unexplored avenues into the world of Dhalgrenscholarship. One of the most useful aspects of On Samuel R. Delany's Dhalgrenis that it presents a fairly comprehensive timeline of Dhalgren's reception history through the twentieth century. The opening section is titled "Contemporary Reviews, 1975-1976," and in only seven reviews it does a good job of demonstrating the variety of responses Dhalgrenreceived when it was first published. Dhalgrenhas long been established as an sf classic, and it can be easy to forget what a controversy it kicked up in the sf community when it first appeared. Wood's anthology presents the range of that controversy nicely, bookended in my mind by the reviews of two sf sf greats: Theodore Sturgeon and Harlan Ellison. Sturgeon called Dhalgren"the very best ever to come out of the science fiction field" (23), while Ellison with signature Waldorf-and-Statlerian flare called it "an unrelenting bore of a literary exercise afflicted with elephantiasis, anemia of ideas and malnutrition of plot and character development. It is a master talent run amuck, suiciding endlessly for chapter after chapter of turgid, impenetrable prose" (21). I also appreciate the inclusion of a review in a college newspaper by Steven Paley and a review in The New York Timesby Gerald Jonas; these demonstrate the interest that college-aged and general audiences had in Dhalgren, and it was these audiences more than genre readers who were responsible for its initial commercial success. Following the contemporary reviews is a short section of reviews for Dhalgren's 1996 Wesleyan UP reprint. This documents how Dhalgrenover time was eventually canonized as an sf classic and also picked up the imprimatur of serious academic literature. Wood's anthology also includes a small selection of "Critical Reactions" from the scholarly literature on Dhalgren, with an emphasis on its narrative structure and use of language. Delany's own critical writings on Dhalgren, included in the anthology under the section "Delany on Dhalgren," also put a predominant focus on structure, sign, and myth. Additionally, this section documents Delany's peculiar history of oblique Dhalgrencriticism. Delany has proven that he has quite a lot to say about the novel, but he always does so through the proxy of either penname or metacommentary. [End Page 196] Beyond just documenting Dhalgren's own reception history, the collection also invites comparison with three intriguing sources that are not much talked about in Dhalgrenscholarship: John Ashbery's "The Instruction Manual," G. Spencer Brown's Laws of Form(1969), and Delany's Hogg. "The Instruction Manual" is reproduced in full under a section titled "Sources," and the collection explains its inclusion by stating that Delany's encounter with it in the early 1970s "resulted in a major restructuring of Dhalgren's material" (139). In the "Critical Reactions" section there is an essay by Kenneth James called "Subverted Equations," in which James discusses Delany's connection to G. Spencer Brown's Laws of Form, an obscure mathematical-philosophical work, and attempts to demonstrate the influence of...

Facultative Groups, Invisible Individuals: The Transformation of Social Relations in the New Technological Reality

The article aims to propose an alternative approach to the analysis of the social effects of digitalization. It was, by and large, intended to solve two problems; first, to assess the epistemological potential and limitations of existing theories and approaches, and second, it was to do what Luhmann, following Spencer Brown, called re-entry, to discover the blind spots of these theories, those differences that lead to the unrecognizable, the background, and the reduced, and then to try to re-enter the main theoretical concepts. Re-entry is easiest to accomplish with the new empirical material offered in this article. The study include the following results: 1) proposing a reactualization of Gordon Pask’s concept of “aesthetically charged environments” as a powerful analytical tool for social and digital communications; 2) an empirical and theoretical justification for the irrelevance of using the concept of “communities” in the context of digital practices research and replacing it with the concept of “facultative groups”; and 3) the fixation and description, on the basis of field research, of new forms of digital behavior that are inevitable reactions to the coercive or manipulative nature of digital regimes, which are expressed in the zero activity of advanced users, in the emerging digital ethic of absence, and in the development of new forms of self-discipline.

Approaching management and organization paradoxes paradoxically: The case for the tetralemma as an expansive encasement strategy

The field of paradox studies keeps struggling to put the notion of paradox into the very centre of organizational life and managerial decision-making, with mixed success. We argue that this research ambition can be realized much more effectively by anchoring the field in three interrelated conceptual approaches which build on paradox as the paradigmatic point of departure. These approaches include Spencer Brown’s form calculus, Niklas Luhmann’s systems and organization theory, and the traditional Indian logical construct of tetralemma. In the proposed argument, paradox constitutes the very identity of organizations as (re-entries of) distinctions drawn in the environment; it is actualized in every act of organizational decision communication, as well as in the process of the continual vanishing and renewal of such acts. In this conception of organizational life, the key challenge is to debunk false distinctions by using tetralemmatization strategies that entail a radical questioning of the problematic observational perspectives.

Intensifying and De-intensifying Distinctions

Abstract In this article I explore different ways of imagining distinctions in the form of borders and on the attitudes that people assume towards them. A distinction is primarily a cognitive operation, but appears as such in human communication (people talking about differences and identities), and in constructions that shape the material space people live in (borders, buildings, and the like). I explore two extreme positions, the one de-intensifying distinctions by focusing on their logical and contingent forms, the other intensifying distinctions by making them a potential cause of conflict. The first one is exemplified by Spencer Brown’s and Niklas Luhmann’s reflection on the logical and sociological aspects of distinctions; the second one by Carl Schmitt’s theory of ‘the political’ and its key notion of the distinction between friend and enemy. Both positions are relevant to understand a major debate and struggle in the world of today between liberal cosmopolitans and authoritarian nationalists. I show in what way both positions are aspects of the human condition, and what makes that alternately the one or the other is stressed.

On the Curious Calculi of Wittgenstein and Spencer Brown

In his Tractatus, Wittgenstein sets out what he calls his N-operator notation which can be used to calculate whether an expression is a tautology. In his Laws of Form, George Spencer Brown offers what he calls a “primary algebra” for such calculation. Both systems are perplexing. But comparing two blurry images can reduce noise, producing a focus. This paper reveals that Spencer Brown independently rediscovered the quantifier-free part of the N-operator calculus. The comparison sheds a flood light on each and from the letters of correspondence we shall find that Russell, as one might have surmised, was a catalyst for both.

Poeticizing Ecology/Ecologizing Poetry: Reading Elizabeth Bishop’s “Poem” Ecologically

In “Poeticizing Ecology/Ecologizing Poetry: Reading Elizabeth Bishop’s ‘Poem’ Ecologically,” we argue that ecological poetry is a kind of ecopoetry that undergirds “nature poetry” and environmental/activist poetry. Ecological poetry is also best put into conversation with deconstruction. This argument, informed by Timothy Morton’s claim that “deconstruction and ecology should talk to one another,” entails challenging previous arguments about what counts as ecopoetry but also the status of the lyric in general. We synthesize James Longenbach’s position in The Resistance of Poetry with Nick Selby’s argument in “Ecopoetries in America” to examine the relationship between close reading and reading ecologically. Rather than an ethical stance perceived in the content of the poem, to read ecologically requires attention to form and linguistic indeterminacy, not only because deconstruction and ecology are alike, but also because poetry is comprised of language, the usage of which “revels in duplicity and disjunction.” Deconstruction is the best approach to divergent perspectives on nature, or the way a poem offers, in Nick Selby’s view, not a clear purchase or single overarching view, but “a struggle to get nature right.” We contend that to give space to alterity, to allow the otherness not only of nature but also of language itself in its capacity for referentiality is to expand the “marked” space of ecology (in the terms set forth by G. Spencer Brown’s Laws of Form). We support this claim with a reading of Bishop’s “Poem,” which we acknowledge as an atypical choice for what constitutes ecological poetry. A borderline ekphrastic poem, “Poem” allows us to talk not only about the space inherent in nature and language but between text and image, or poem and painting. What we find in our reading of Bishop’s “Poem” is a contingency between the poem and the painting, rather than a classical attempt of one to overpower the other, to speak for the other as the more authoritative sign. We find the uncanny or strange quality of Bishop’s ekphrastic approach to an amateurish painting that she calls “sketch” a way to further substantiate Morton’s claim about the relevance of deconstruction to ecology. Through our reading of the poem we argue that no entity completely coincides with itself because ecological thinking has helped us to see how every entity is shot-through with traces of the other; we ourselves are made up of other lifeforms; life is made up of nonlife. To think ecologically is to think the other within the self (especially including all the nonhuman others), within any entity whatsoever.

Parsons, Luhmann, Spencer Brown. NOR design for double contingency tables

PurposeCross tables are omnipresent in management, academia and popular culture. The Matrix has us, despite all criticism, opposition and desire for a way out. This paper draws on the works of three agents of the matrix. The paper shows that Niklas Luhmann criticised Talcott Parsons’ traditional matrix model of society and proceeded to update systems theory, the latest version of which is coded in the formal language of George Spencer Brown. As Luhmann failed to install his updates to all components of his theory platform, however, regular reoccurrences of Parsonian crosstabs are observed, particularly in the Luhmannian differentiation theory, which results in compatibility issues and produces error messages requesting updates. This paper aims to code the missing update translating the basic matrix structure from Parsonian into Spencer Brownian formal language.Design/methodology/approachThis paper draws on work by Boris Hennig and Louis Kauffman and a yet unpublished manuscript by George Spencer Brown, to demonstrate that the latter introduced his cross as a mark to indicate NOR gates in circuit diagrams. The paper also shows that this NOR gate marker has been taken out of and may be observed to contain the tetralemma, an ancient matrix structure already present in traditional Indian logic. It then proceeds to translate the basic structure of traditional contingency tables into a Spencer Brownian NOR equation and to demonstrate the difference this translation makes in the modelling of social systems.FindingsThe translation of cross tables from Parsonian into Spencer Brownian formal language results in the design of a both matrix-shaped and compatible test routine that works as a virtual window for the observation of the actually unobservable medium in which a form is drawn, and can be used for consistency checks of expressions coded in Spencer Brownian formal language.Originality/valueThis paper quotes from and discusses a so far unpublished manuscript finalised by Spencer Brown in April 1961. The basic matrix structure is translated from Parsonian into Spencer Brownian formal language. A Spencer Brownian NOR matrix is coded that may be used to detect errors in expressions coded in Spencer Brownian formal language.

Laws of Form: Why Spencer-Brown is missing the point

What Spencer Brown wants to rationalize out of existence is alternation itself – the prerequisite of his whole operation! By that he simplifies (identifies) more than he says. And he does not say all that is important.

Abstract 4077: Adipose-derived stem cells after Paclitaxel treatment demonstrate decreased function and suppression of breast cancer cell viability

Abstract Background: Following neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer resections, poor soft tissue wound healing can pose a major clinical challenge. Adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) in clinically applied stromal vascular fractions are considered to play a positive role in wound healing (SVF) as evidenced by their increasing use in breast reconstructive procedures. Our study evaluated the potential confounding effects of Paclitaxel (PTX) on ASC proliferation and differentiation capacities and if PTX treated ASCs may subsequently influence tumor cell viability. Methods: IRB-approved human ASCs were isolated and treated with PTX at different concentrations. Proliferation, cell viability, and cell migration rates were measured by growth curves, MTT assays and scratch assays. ASCs were cultured in derivative-specific differentiation media with or without PTX (1uM) for 3 weeks. Adipogenic, osteogenic and endothelial differentiation levels were measured by quantitative RT-PCR, Oil-Red-O, Alizarin Red staining and cord formation on Matrigel, respectively. MDA-MB-231 (breast cancer cell line) and ASCs were co-cultured at equal cell numbers. ASC conditional media were collected every 3 days from ASC no-PTX treatment and PTX treated - washout groups. Results: PTX decreased proliferation of ASCs in a dose- and time-dependent manner. PTX treatment down-regulated the capacity of ASCs for adipogenic, osteogenic and endothelial differentiation (p<0.05 vs. control). In comparison with controls, PTX treated ASCs had decreased cell migration (relative scratch width, p<0.05 vs. control). Following cessation and washout of PTX after 8 days, treated ASCs exhibited cell growth and differentiating ability, but their capacity was suppressed compared to controls. The cumulative population doubling time was longer for cells co-cultured with PTX treated-washout ASC conditional media. (p<0.01 vs. no-PTX treatment group). Total cellular mRNA expressions of epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EPCAM), synuclein gamma (breast cancer specific protein 1; SNCG) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) were down-regulated in MDA-MB-231 cells when co-cultured directly with PTX treated ASC or indirectly with PTX treated-washout ASC conditional media (p<0.05 vs. control). In cells co-cultured for 3 days, VEGF proteins released in conditioned medium were decreased compared with single cultures (p<0.01 vs. control). Conclusion: Our results indicate that: 1) PTX inhibited ASC proliferation and decreased the multipotency differentiating capacity; and 2) Direct contact or treatment with conditional media from PTX treated ASCs suppressed tumor cell growth. In evaluating autologous ASCs for reconstructive procedures, this study may provide insight into poor soft tissue wound healing immediately following the removal of chemotherapy as well as decreased recurrence in breast cancer patients. Citation Format: William M. Harris, Michael Plastini, Telisha Ortiz, Nikolas Kappy, Jefferson Benites, Shaohua Chang, A. Lelani Fahey, Martha S. Matthews, Alexandre Hageboutros, Jeffrey P. Carpenter, Spencer Brown, Ping Zhang. Adipose-derived stem cells after Paclitaxel treatment demonstrate decreased function and suppression of breast cancer cell viability. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 4077. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-4077

Observation's role in technically complex project implementation: the social autopoietic system view

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore what the role of individuals' observations is in the implementation of technically complex projects.Design/methodology/approachInitially essential theoretical information is presented, by reviewing the concepts of systemic view and autopoiesis. Then the notion of communication is described focusing on Niklas Luhmann's theory on communication in social autopoietic systems. After that follows an illustration of the concept of technical complexity in projects. Next notions of problem and problem solving are highlighted. Then follows the main content of this paper; namely descriptions of the concepts of observation and distinction making focusing particularly on the Spencer Brown's ideas of these concepts. And finally, the paper deals with the notion of importance of shared understanding.FindingsThe project team members act under the limitations of their subjective observations. However, individuals' observations play an important role in the implementation of technically complex projects.Originality/valueLiterature dealing with systems – projects in this case – has largely ignored the problem of the observer simply discussing the characteristics of different types of systems as if they were observer‐independent. Obviously, there seems to be a need to shed new light on the issues: observer and observation.

Reconstructing Large Keloids with Neodermis

Sir:FigureA predictable treatment option is needed for large keloids, as these debilitating scars have high variability in clinical response to current therapies. We have found that incorporation of a neodermal layer (dermal-like tissue that can be incorporated in continuity with recipient skin) in large keloid reconstruction provides a symptom-free and recurrence-free treatment option to these patients. The theory is that incorporation of a neodermal layer alters the wound-healing environment from one of inflammation to one of regeneration, with replacement of the diseased “keloidogenic” dermal layer. We performed a systematic review of the OVID and PubMed databases for studies before July of 2010 that incorporate a neodermal product in the reconstruction of large keloids. A “large” keloid was defined as one that cannot be closed primarily once excised. Three studies (five keloids) met criteria1–3 (Table 1), and products encountered included Bilayer Matrix Wound Dressing (Integra LifeSciences Corp., Plainsboro, N.J.) and Apligraf (Organogenesis, Inc., Canton, Mass.). AlloDerm has been used in this manner for small earlobe keloids.4 At an average follow-up of 15 months, all studies reported excellent clinical results and patient satisfaction.Table 1: Study CharacteristicsThe neodermal keloid reconstruction occurs in three stages. First, the scar is excised down to subcutaneous tissue, and the Integra Bilayer Matrix Wound Dressing is secured with staples into the wound bed, with care taken to not penetrate epidermis with the staple. Second, once the Bilayer Matrix Wound Dressing is incorporated, after approximately 4 weeks, the silicone sheet overlying the Integra is removed and covered with an epidermal graft (0.006 inch). Between 6 and 9 months, a rim of proliferative scar tissue forms on the perimeter of the reconstruction and the native skin. This is the transition zone between regenerative and inflammatory wound healing. The third stage consists of excision of this rim and injection of each 10 cm of wound edge with 1 cc of 5-fluorouracil (50 mg/cc) and 1 cc of Kenalog 40 (Bristol-Myers Squibb, New York, N.Y.). The site is then irradiated with 1200 cGy divided into three equal fractions over the following 48 hours. We present our experience using this technique with the case of a 23-year-old man with large keloids on his neck and shoulder. After multiple attempts to treat his scars, he opted for the above treatment protocol with Integra Bilayer Matrix Wound Dressing. Preoperatively, the patient experienced pain, pruritus, limited range of motion, skin breakdown, recurrent infection and, perhaps the most significant, social exclusion (Fig. 1, left, and Fig. 2, left). Twelve months after the staged procedures were complete, he was completely asymptomatic and recurrence-free (Fig. 1, right, and Fig. 2, right). In addition, the patient's epidermal graft donor site showed no sign of keloid formation. The patient is now socially active and gainfully employed, lives in his own apartment, travels, and is engaged to be married.Fig. 1: (Left) Our patient presented with a symptomatic neck keloid spanning from ear to ear (35 × 11 cm) from shaving. His neck keloid had symptoms of restricted mobility, pruritus, recurrent infection and, most importantly, severe embarrassment resulting in social isolation. (Right) The patient is shown 9 months postoperatively.Fig. 2: (Left) The shoulder keloid was large and elevated and could not be closed primarily as evaluated by a skin pinch test. (Right) Eight months after the rim of proliferative scar was excised, the Bilayer Matrix Wound Dressing was hyperpigmented and had less pliability than normal skin.Learning points we discovered are as follows. First, when fastening the neodermis and skin graft, a subdermal stapling technique should be used to avoid keloid formation at the staple marks. Second, using Integra Bilayer Matrix Wound Dressing allows the surgeon to harvest an ultrathin epidermal graft that avoids donor-site keloid formation. Lastly, it was observed that the recurrent rim of proliferative scar tissue exhibits properties of healthier scar and responds more sensitively to conventional treatments. Sean M. Bidic, M.D. Phillip B. Dauwe, M.D. Justin Heller, M.D. Spencer Brown, Ph.D. Rod J. Rohrich, M.D. Department of Plastic Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas DISCLOSURE The authors have no financial interest to declare in relation to the content of this article. PATIENT CONSENT The patient provided written consent for the use of his images.

El concepto de memoria social como problema para la teoría de sistemas sociales

The concept of social memory is between those categories, which acquired more relevance in Niklas Luhmann's theoretic production in the last years of his life. This concept is largely inspired in the memory function depicted by the English mathematician George Spencer Brown. Social memory tries to account for the own memory performance of society, which is independent from the memories of the psychic and neurophysiologic systems. This paper deals critically with this topic, focusing the attention on the operativity of the social memory, in order to observe to which questions it can answer. In addition, it will be carefully analyzed how Luhmann utilizes the Spencer Brown's oscillator and memory functions, so to evaluate the consistency of Luhmann's decision to include these concepts in his theory. It will also be of great importance to estimate if the German sociologist develops a theory of social memory with the capacity to get rid of the storage metaphor, as he expected to have done with this formulation.

The biological metaphor of a second‐order observer and the sociological discourse

PurposeIn the tradition of Spencer Brown's Laws of Form, observation was defined in Luhmann's social systems theory as the designation of a distinction. In the sociological design, however, the designation specifies only a category for the observation. The distinction between observation and expectation enables the sociologist to appreciate the processing of meaning in social systems. Seeks to address this issue.Design/methodology/approachThe specification of “the observer” in the tradition of systems theory is analyzed in historical detail. Inconsistencies and differences in perspectives are explicated, and the specificity of human language is further specified. The processing of meaning in social systems adds another layer to the communication.FindingsReflexivity about the different perspectives of participant observers and an external observer is fundamental to the sociological discourse. The ranges of possible observations from different perspectives can be considered as second‐order observations or, equivalently, as the specification of an uncertainty in the observations. This specification of an uncertainty provides an expectation. The expectation can be provided with (one or more) values by observations. The significance of observations can be tested when the expectations are properly specified.Originality/valueThe expectations (second‐order observations) are structured and therefore systemic attributes to the discourse. However, the metaphor of a (meta‐)biological observer has disturbed the translation of social systems theory into sociological discourse. Different discourses specify other expectations about possible observations. By specifying second‐order observations as expectations, social systems theory and sociocybernetics can combine the constructivist with an empirical approach.

Surgical therapeutics and operative technique. By E. Doyen. English edition prepared by the Author, in collaboration with H. Spencer Brown. Vol. III, Regional Surgery, Roy 8vo. Pp. x + 811, with 957 illsutrations. 1920. London: Baillière, Tindall & Cox. 45s. net

Surgical therapeutics and operative technique. By E. Doyen. English edition prepared by the Author, in collaboration with H. Spencer Brown. Vol. III, Regional Surgery, Roy 8vo. Pp. x + 811, with 957 illsutrations. 1920. London: Baillière, Tindall & Cox. 45s. net

The construction of information and communication: A cybersemiotic reentry into Heinz von Foerster's metaphysical construction of second-order cybernetics

This article praises the development of second order cybernetics by von Foerster, Maturana, and Varela as an important step in deepening our understanding of the bio-psychological foundation of the dynamics of information, cognition, and communication. Luhmann's development of the theory into the realm of social communication is seen as a necessary and important move. The triple autopoietic differentiation between biological, psychological, and social-communicative autopoiesis and the introduction of a technical concept of meaning is central. Finally, the paper shows that second order cybernetics lacks explicit and ontological concepts of emotion, meaning, and a concept of signs. C. S. Peirce's theory is introduced for this purpose. It is then shown, through Varela's development of Spencer Brown's ‘Laws of Form’ from a dual to a dynamic triadic categorical structure, that both theories are triadic and second order, and therefore can be fruitfully fused to a Cybersemiotics.

Discovering boundary algebra: A simple notation for Boolean algebra and the truth functors

Boundary algebra ( BA ) consists of Spencer Brown's [ Laws of Form , 1969 (Allen & Unwin, London)] primary arithmetic ( PA ) and primary algebra ( pa ), restated here in a more convenient notation. The PA consists of an ordered set B ={( ), “ =(( ))} of primitive values cum atomic formulae, formulae generated recursively by enclosure between '(' and ')' and juxtaposition, logical equivalence denoted by '=', and the axioms ( )( )=( )= “ ( )=( “ )=( ) “ , (( ))= “ = “ “ . Inserting variables with domain B into a PA formula yields a pa formula. The pa is a d B ,(·)·, B ¢ algebra of type d 2,0,0 ¢ , whose [ pa , calculus of truth values (CTV), dual CTV, Boolean] intended interpretations are: [( ), T , F ,1], [ “ , F , T ,0], [ ab , a b , a # b , a ? b ], [ ( a ),¬ a , ¬ a , a ' ], and [( a ) b , a M b ,¬( b M a ), a h b ]. The pa is thus a bracket-free notation for the Boolean algebra 2 and CTV, embodying the expressive adequacy of { / # ,¬} and { M ,¬/ F } . ( a ) a =( v ) a =( v ) and abc = bca form a basis. The pa simplifies duality, normal forms, natural deduction, Quine's truth value analysis and the decision procedure for monadic predicates. Syntactically, BA resembles Peirce's [Peirce, C.S. (1993) Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Peirce (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA), §§4.372-384] and Byrne's ["Two brief formulations of Boolean algebra", Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society , 52 , 269-272] Boolean notation; semantically, BA resembles Peirce's entitative graphs (Shin [ The Iconic Logic of Peirce's Graphs , 2002 (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA)]) and the system of Anderson and Belnap ["A simple treatment of truth functions", Journal of Symbolic Logic , 24 (1959), 301-302].

From second-order cybernetics to cybersemiotics: A semiotic re-entry into the second-order cybernetics of Heinz von Foerster

This article praises the development of second-order cybernetics by von Foerster, Maturana and Varela as an important step in deepening our understanding of the biopsychological foundation of the dynamics of cognition and communication. Luhmann's development of the theory into the realm of social communication is seen as a necessary and important move. The differentiation between biological, psychological and social-communicative autopoiesis and the introduction of a technical concept of meaning is central. Furthermore, Varela's development of Spencer Brown's ‘Laws of Form’ from a dual to a triadic categorical basic structure is considered vital. Finally the paper shows that second-order cybernetics lacks explicit and ontological concepts of emotion, meaning and a concept of signs. C.S. Peirce's theory is introduced for this purpose. It is then shown that both theories are triadic and second order, and therefore can be fruitfully fused to a cybersemiotics.

Franz Biberkopf und das Wissen des Wissens zum Schluss von Alfred Döblins Berlin Alexanderplatz unter der Perspektive Einer Theorie der Beobachtung der Beobachtung

The ending of Alfred Doblin's novel Berlin Alexanderplatz has been controversial in literary criticism from its first publication until today. Critics have either rejected the ending as being merely a philosophical, utopian, construction or tried to solve the supposed contradiction of an active and a passive attitude of the hero Franz Biberkopf by favouring one attitude or the other or, thirdly, have accepted the paradoxical coexistence of both attitudes without making rationally transparent the structure of that paradoxical coexistence itself. This article describes the hero's transition from first order to second order observation against the background of a concept of second order cybernetics as developed by G. Spencer Brown, G. Gunther and N. Luhmann. In this way it becomes possible to see the ending of the novel as logical and consistent both from a narratological and from an epistemological point of view.

The Law of the Text of the Law Derrida before Kafka

Derrida’s reading of Kafka’s Before the Law poses the question “what is literature?” The question concerns the relation of the law to the institution of literature, the self-constituting laws of literature, the place of literature before the prohibited law. Spencer Brown’s Laws of Form offers the possibility of formalizing the law of the text before the law.

RECONSTRUCTION OF G. SPENCER BROWN'S THEME

In this paper we reexamine G. Spencer Brown's theme. First, the Primary Algebra is redefined as a formal system and its soundness and completeness are proved. Next, the statement “Primary Algebra is equivalent to the propositional calculus”, introduced in [Schwartz, 1981], is proven in our framework. Some technical results are shown in formal way.