Listmania!
Call yourself an organicist?
The Web of Life: A New Synthesis of Mind and MatterThe Web of Life: A New Synthesis of Mind and Matter by Fritjof Capra
Buy new: £6.49 / Used from: £3.50
A good place to start. A history of organic ways of thinking about Reality. Hardly complete, but hardly puts a foot wrong either. All Capra's books are worth a read. Heaviness rating - 1
Going InsideGoing Inside by John McCrone
Buy new: £8.99 / Used from: £0.01
I may as well plug my own books. This is about how the brain works - an illustration of the principles of organicism rather than a description of organicism as a view of Reality. Heaviness rating - 3
Hierarchy Theory; The Challenge of Complex Systems.Hierarchy Theory; The Challenge of Complex Systems. by Howard Hunt Pattee
Buy used from: £67.95
I love this book - so cheap as well. Hierarchy theory is the natural heart of organicism. Heaviness rating - 2
Development and Evolution: Complexity and Change in BiologyDevelopment and Evolution: Complexity and Change in Biology by S N Salthe
Buy new: £48.95 / Used from: £16.95
Expensive and a dense read. Yet Salthe goes deeper than anyone on hierarchy theory. For the initiated. Heaviness rating - 5
Evolving Hierarchical Systems: Their Structure and RepresentationEvolving Hierarchical Systems: Their Structure and Representation by SN Salthe
Buy new: £81.00 / Used from: £33.68
Even more expensive. But again important if you have serious intentions. Heaviness rating - 5
Selected WritingsSelected Writings by Charles S. Peirce
Buy new: £13.59 / Used from: £2.53
Peirce deals with semiosis - an essential and often missing element in the organic way of thinking. How do minds create meanings? A old time philosopher back in vogue. Heaviness rating - 5.
The Tree of Knowledge: The Biological Roots of Human UnderstandingThe Tree of Knowledge: The Biological Roots of Human Understanding by Humberto Maturana Rumesin
Buy new: £13.74 / Used from: £12.58
A familiar classic, this Chilean duo show how both life and mind are cognitive systems - systems formed by adaptation or the act of coming to know. Heaviness rating - 4
Essays on Life Itself (Complexity in Ecological Systems)Essays on Life Itself (Complexity in Ecological Systems) by R Rosen
Buy new: £22.10 / Used from: £20.55
A particular favourite because of its spirited attack on the conceits of reductionism. Rosen offers an accurate diagnosis. But you have to look elsewhere for the cure. Heaviness rating - 3
What is Life?: With Mind and Matter and Autobiographical Sketches (Canto)What is Life?: With Mind and Matter and Autobiographical Sketches (Canto) by Erwin Schrödinger
Buy new: £10.78 / Used from: £5.40
A classic polemic against reductionism. And not as dated as you might think. Heaviness rating - 1
General System TheoryGeneral System Theory by Ludwig Von Bertalanffy
Buy new: £9.95 / Used from: £6.68
This is a classic. But truth be told, it is a little dull. It makes the case that organicism is different but does not take you far down the road. Heaviness rating - 2
Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid (20th anniversary edition with a new preface by the author)Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid (20th anniversary edition with a new preface by the author) by Douglas R Hofstadter
Buy new: £13.27 / Used from: £10.25
A classic of a different sort - a whimsical discussion of some issues foundational to organicism. Not really to my taste but it has made many people think. Heaviness rating - 1
Process and Reality (Gifford lectures)Process and Reality (Gifford lectures) by Alfred North Whitehead
Buy new: £12.45 / Used from: £8.44
Heavy duty organicism. Another philosopher who made things difficult by inventing so much of his own jargon. But still an essential classic. Heaviness rating - 4
Dynamic Patterns: The Self-Organization of Brain and Behavior (Complex Adaptive Systems)Dynamic Patterns: The Self-Organization of Brain and Behavior (Complex Adaptive Systems) by JAS Kelso
Buy new: £27.50 / Used from: £27.06
An insightful look at how information might actually be used by organic systems. Widens the horizons on this important issue. Heaviness rating - 4
The Collapse of Chaos: Discovering Simplicity in a Complex World (Penguin Science)The Collapse of Chaos: Discovering Simplicity in a Complex World (Penguin Science) by Ian Stewart
Buy new: £6.49 / Used from: £2.00
Hits most of the right buttons and easy reading. Not a deep treatment but good as an introduction. Heaviness rating - 2
Three Roads to Quantum Gravity: A New Understanding Of Space, Time And The Universe (Science Masters)Three Roads to Quantum Gravity: A New Understanding Of Space, Time And The Universe (Science Masters) by Lee Smolin
Buy used from: £1.40
An excellent book even though it is stepping backwards into an organic view of fundamental physics. Heaviness rating - 3
The End of Certainty: Time, Chaos and the New Laws of NatureThe End of Certainty: Time, Chaos and the New Laws of Nature by Ilya Prigogine
Buy new: £11.58 / Used from: £9.09
This offers an organic view of time. So essential reading if you want to rethink physics. Heaviness rating - 3
The Origins of Order: Self-Organization and Selection in Evolution: Self Organization and Selection in EvolutionThe Origins of Order: Self-Organization and Selection in Evolution: Self Organization and Selection in Evolution by Stuart A. Kauffman
Buy new: £35.12 / Used from: £13.50
The Santa Fe brand of complexity. Kauffman is stimulating, important in some respects, but he only deals with aspects of organicism - self-organisation mainly. Heaviness rating - 4
Emergence: From Chaos to OrderEmergence: From Chaos to Order by John H. Holland
Buy new: £6.48 / Used from: £3.99
This should have been good as Holland is a good hierarchy thinker. But it disappoints badly as he never really explores the reasons for the causal power of hierarchies. Heaviness rating - 1
Complexity: The Emerging Science at the Edge of Order and Chaos (Penguin Science)Complexity: The Emerging Science at the Edge of Order and Chaos (Penguin Science) by M.Mitchell Waldrop
Buy used from: £4.07
Santa Fe brand complexity again. But a fine overview with lots of the history. Heaviness rating - 1
The Ontogeny of Information: Developmental Systems and Evolution (Science & Cultural Theory)The Ontogeny of Information: Developmental Systems and Evolution (Science & Cultural Theory) by Susan Oyama
Buy new: £18.45 / Used from: £20.03
Worth mentioning as some see this as crucial. It certainly tackles the right issues but not as deep as it thinks. Heaviness rating - 3
How the Leopard Changed its Spots: Evolution of ComplexityHow the Leopard Changed its Spots: Evolution of Complexity by Brian Goodwin
Buy used from: £6.30
How to grow a body - what the genes don't need to do. A bit too biased at times but brings good data to the table. Heaviness rating - 2
The Origins of Life: From the Birth of Life to the Origin of LanguageThe Origins of Life: From the Birth of Life to the Origin of Language by The late John Maynard Smith
Buy new: £9.49 / Used from: £5.00
An elegant thinker who is more organic (in his causality) than most evolutionary theorists. Heaviness rating - 2