Dialectical Systems

We will continue posting here for the time being but will gradually transition to our Bluesky account. We invite you to follow us there to stay updated: bsky.app/profile/dialec…

CFP: Dialectics and Life (Marxism & Sciences, Issue 10) Main topics: organism–environment coupling, critical 4E cognition, social metabolism, dialectical approaches to modeling. Abstracts due 1 June 2026 👉 dialecticalsystems.eu/events/cfp-dia…

📣 Next IAS Seminar | Fri, 20 Feb 2026 🎙️ Marius Werz (IAS Research, UPV/EHU) will present his recent publication: “From function to freedom: enactivism between being and becoming” (Phenom Cogn Sci, 2026). doi.org/10.1007/s11097… #IASSeminar #Enactivism

With the end of this year, Stuart Newman will step down from his role as Editor-in-Chief. We sincerely thank Stuart for his outstanding 10 years of service and dedication to Biological Theory! Read Stuart's Farewell Editorial: link.springer.com/article/10.100…

Extending the evolutionary synthesis isn’t enough Rasmus Haukedal's new book calls for a dialectical biology: from autopoiesis to sympoiesis, from efficient causes to enablement, and an innovative take on plasticity, canalisation & habit. dialecticalsystems.eu/publications/n…

➡️New article out⬅️ Open-Ended Control Versus Closed-Ended Control: Limits of Mechanistic Explanation by Jason Winning Free reading link:rdcu.be/eQ6ym

Enaction meets dialectics New paper out on how sensorimotor agency scales up to social normativity link.springer.com/article/10.100…

Materiality isn’t a backdrop to cognition, but one of its central conditions The upcoming workshop “Habits, Tools, and Material Environments” examines how cognition is socially distributed, ecologically embedded, and enacted through material engagement dialecticalsystems.eu/events/worksho…

40 years after The Dialectical Biologist, Richard Lewontin’s legacy still challenges how we think about life A new report revisits his intertwining of philosophy, biology, and Marxism—and how organisms are subjects of their own evolution dialecticalsystems.eu/contributions/…

We’re excited to announce that the Outonomy book —resulting from one of IAS Research’s major projects— is now out! 🎉 It features contributions from many of our members and is Open Access, available in full or by chapters: 🔗 link.springer.com/book/10.1007/9…

Very nice upcoming workshop at the Center for Philosophical Psychology (University of Antwerp) on how radical embodiment unfolds in complex, “wild” real-world environments. dialecticalsystems.eu/events/worksho…

Marx as a philosophical biologist? Chris Shambaugh on young Marx's account of organismal agency, its relation to human life to the critique of capitalism. dialecticalsystems.eu/publications...

New paper out in @BiolTheory @Leo_Bich and Laura Menatti argue that health is not about balance or stability, but about adapting and transforming in response to changing circumstances — the capacity for adaptive change. link.springer.com/journal/13752

➡️New article out⬅️ The Bechtel Approach to the Scope and Limits of Mechanistic Explanation by Daniel C. Burnston Free reading link: rdcu.be/eLgQT

How did regulation and agency arise before genes? Shirt-Ediss et al. model evolving protocell ecologies with the Araudia platform—showing how simple metabolic systems can “learn” to adapt to changing environments dialecticalsystems.eu/publications/n…

➡️New article out⬅️ Homeostasis and Health: From Balance to Change by Leonardo Bich & Laura Menatti Open access: link.springer.com/article/10.100…

How does life emerge from nonlife? New special issue of the Royal Transactions brings together leading thinkers on the origins of life—where chemistry meets information, and evolution unfolds through the “adjacent possible.” dialecticalsystems.eu/publications/n…

𝗔𝗻 𝗘𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 This short book by Moreno and Pereto' looks very interesting. One more on the understanding of biological agency. And it's open access! link.springer.com/book/10.1007/9…

📖 New Book Out Alvaro Moreno & Juli Peretó explore the major transitions in biological agency—from origins of life to metazoans—showing how agency drives the evolution of biological complexity dialecticalsystems.eu/publications/n…

Next month we will be hosting ECogS 2025 at OIST! 🎉 Here is the updated conference poster (following some last-minute changes to our keynote line-up).

Dialectical Biology Today: Legacies of Richard Lewontin A hybrid conference bringing together voices old and new to revisit how The Dialectical Biologist still resonates, and reinvigorates, contemporary biology dialecticalsystems.eu/events/dialect…