Abstract

Human language, according to Humberto Maturana, can be seen as existing in the relationality of human organisms who in turn emerge as persons from autopoietic co-constitutive relationships. I propose that this autopoietic conception of language is eminently trans-actional in the Deweyan sense. A trans-actional presentation of knowledge means that everything that we seek to explain as observers exists in continuity with everything else. Such trans-actional continuity is grounded on a physical continuity that I propose is best exemplified by entanglement in quantum physics; which is quite counter-intuitive to our deterministic Newtonian-Cartesian “habits of mind.” This illustrates why we need finer tools, such as trans-actional autopoiesis, to approach our experience. Maturana explains how human language is made possible by our nervous system, embodied in an autopoietic manner; in constant trans-action with human embodiment and other humans and non-humans, as well as embedded in and having an effect on our environment.