Home – Home – Jornals – Philosophy of Sciences 2026 number 3

This article presents a conceptual framework for analyzing the evolution of constellations (chemogenesis, cosmogenesis, and geogenesis) and autopoiesis (biogenesis, anthropogenesis, and sociogenesis). Four systemic mechanisms of motion relative to attractors in morphospace are identified: “acceleration/lift” (positive feedback, PFB), “balancing” (negative feedback, NFB), “stagnation” (increased rigidity as the attraction basin narrows), and “well” (PFB¯, moving away from the attractor). Examples from both inanimate and living nature are provided for each mechanism. Holling’s adaptive cycle (exploitation, conservation, release, reorganization) is interpreted as a sequential succession of these mechanisms. Additionally, the mechanisms of innovation accumulation (including through so-called “magic wands”) and the six typical sources of increasing complexity in the evolution of autopoiesis are examined: reduction of damage from stresses, overcoming costs, the struggle for existence, transformation of smaller systems into self-contained structures, concerns about pacification as population size grows, and emergence of encompassing systems under conditions of parity of forces.