Abstract

Two arguments are unfolded against the viability and advisability of applying the notion of autopoiesis to third order systems. The first argument comes from the domain of psychotherapeutic praxis and elaborates a critique of 'boundary' and 'family' as third order phenomena. The second argument , coming from the domain of ethics, uses the paramount individuality of personal consciousness to demonstrate that any third order human system configured on the metaphor of autopoiesis would necessarily be oppressive, inhuman, and parasocial.