Dialectical Systems

A forum in Biology, Ecology, and Cognitive Science

[Dialectical Systems @dialectical_sys]

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: https://t.co/3V0HpyS8D0

[IAS Research @IAS_Research]

🔔 IAS Seminar | Upcoming Session

📅 Friday, May 15th · 13:00h

📍 Room 5, Centro Carlos Santamaría

Laura Mojica & Ezequiel Di Paolo (UPV/EHU + Ikerbasque) will present:

🧠 Sensorimotor Incorporation: An Operational Definition

Everyone welcome! #CognitiveScience #Philosophy

[Dialectical Systems @dialectical_sys]

Off year ISH workshop: "Synthesizing Autonomy and New Mechanism in the Philosophy of Biology"

https://t.co/LogJajX0dA

[dalia nassar dalianassar.bsky.social @dalia__nassar]

it's happening - my book *Romantic Empiricism* will be out in German in June!

Watch out for "Romantischer Empirismus" from Königshausen & Neumann.

I'll update with more information as it comes

[Dialectical Systems @dialectical_sys]

The dialectical underpinnings of multilevel selection

Evolution isn’t flat: new levels arise through conflict and then reshape the very dynamics that brought them into being

https://t.co/97muIqhrtv

[Dialectical Systems @dialectical_sys]

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

👉 https://t.co/28lcneYwVv

[IAS Research @IAS_Research]

📣 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).
https://t.co/gIxMsyS3e9
#IASSeminar #Enactivism

[Biological Theory @BiolTheory]

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: https://t.co/kvBqh6lmZw

[Dialectical Systems @dialectical_sys]

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.

https://t.co/MSs15LQxm8

[Biological Theory @BiolTheory]

➡️New article out⬅️

Open-Ended Control Versus Closed-Ended Control: Limits of Mechanistic Explanation

by Jason Winning

Free reading link:https://t.co/OnVptRpAGc

[Dialectical Systems @dialectical_sys]

Enaction meets dialectics

New paper out on how sensorimotor agency scales up to social normativity

https://t.co/YTyorvz2Xr

[Dialectical Systems @dialectical_sys]

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

https://t.co/Agb7MlI4Hy

[Dialectical Systems @dialectical_sys]

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

https://t.co/vs3JpxTwGv

[IAS Research @IAS_Research]

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:
🔗 https://t.co/ggAfraztv4

[Dialectical Systems @dialectical_sys]

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

https://t.co/OSE5XvwgfA

[Dialectical Systems @dialectical_sys]

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.

https://t.co/ChgVxyk7Qg...

[Dialectical Systems @dialectical_sys]

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.

https://t.co/M91QWEYSiE

[Biological Theory @BiolTheory]

➡️New article out⬅️

The Bechtel Approach to the Scope and Limits of Mechanistic Explanation

by Daniel C. Burnston

Free reading link: https://t.co/p5X6YOGEZ7

[Dialectical Systems @dialectical_sys]

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

https://t.co/LKnZBqLEKZ

[Biological Theory @BiolTheory]

➡️New article out⬅️

Homeostasis and Health: From Balance to Change

by Leonardo Bich & Laura Menatti

Open access: https://t.co/NPP4JIq6lW

[Dialectical Systems @dialectical_sys]

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.”

https://t.co/ISziUSU78k