---
slug: oip-node-c12-autopoiesis-self-production
title: Node C12: Autopoiesis / Self-Production
canonical: https://miscsubjects.com/a/oip-node-c12-autopoiesis-self-production
---

# Node C12: Autopoiesis / Self-Production

C12 — Autopoiesis / Self-Production
{
  "id": "C12",
  "claim": "Living systems are organized as networks of processes that continuously produce the components that constitute the system as a distinct entity in physical space; the system makes itself.",
  "domain": ["cell biology", "systems theory", "sociology (contested)", "cognitive science"],
  "pattern": ["autopoiesis", "organizational_closure", "self_production", "operational_closure"],
  "mechanism": "A network of component-producing processes where (a) each component participates in producing at least one other component, (b) the network constitutes a boundary that separates it from its environment, and (c) the boundary itself is produced by the network. The cell: membrane enzymes produce membrane lipids; ribosomes produce the enzymes; DNA encodes the ribosomes — a closed production cycle.",
  "scale": "cellular → group",
  "claim_tier": "T2",
  "sources": [
    "Maturana, H.R. & Varela, F.J. (1972). 'Autopoiesis and Cognition: The Realization of the Living.' Boston Studies in Philosophy of Science, 42.",
    "Varela, F.J. (1979). Principles of Biological Autonomy. North-Holland.",
    "Luhmann, N. (1984). Soziale Systeme. Suhrkamp. [Social systems as autopoietic communication.]",
    "Thompson, E. (2007). Mind in Life: Biology, Phenomenology, and the Sciences of Mind. Harvard."
  ],
  "dual": "Allopoiesis — being made by another system; heteronomous production where the producer is external to the product.",
  "falsifier": "Life sustaining itself without organizational closure — a cell that maintains its boundary, metabolism, and reproduction through entirely external supply chains with no internal production cycle.",
  "rival_frame": "Autopoiesis is a definition dressed as a mechanism. It restates 'living things make themselves' without explaining HOW or WHY. The molecular details are what matter, and autopoiesis adds nothing to biochemistry. Luhmann's extension to social systems is metaphor, not science — societies do not physically produce their own components.",
  "independence_check": "MODERATE. Maturana & Varela (biology, Chile, 1972) developed autopoiesis from neurophysiology and cell biology. Luhmann (sociology, Germany, 1984) explicitly borrowed the concept and adapted it to social systems. Thompson (philosophy of mind, Canada, 2007) grounded it in enactivism. The core concept has partial lineage; the biological application is original, the sociological extension is derivative.",
  "pattern_type": "biological",
  "maps_to_axiom": ["A8", "A12"]
}

---

## Corpus map
- Same node, other planes: [Encyclopedia C12](/a/convergence-encyclopedia-c12) · [Inventory invariant](/a/oip-invariant-8-38-autopoiesis-self-production)
- Edges touching C12: [convergence edge 6](/a/oip-convergence-edge-6)
- Catalogue hub: [Public Article](/a/oip-convergence-public-article) · [Schema](/a/oip-convergence-schema)
