Abstract
Self-reference is ubiquitous. It occurs in any comprehensive description of the universe. It is found in neuroscience where the brain studies itself, in attempts to describe the biological characteristics of life (Maturana and Varela 1980), in mathematics when dealing with questions of provability (Gödel 1931), in sociology when describing the society from within (Luhmann 1992), and in the physics of quantum cosmology (Wheeler 1983). However, self-reference is irritating, too. It leads to paradoxes and antinomies, to propositions equivalent to their own negation. The difficulties related to self-reference seem to be rooted in language. Thus, despite its ubiquity, self-reference in everyday life is neither a topic of practical interest nor does it present a problem. But why is this the way it is?
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Gödel K. (1931): Über formal unentscheidbare Sätze der Principia Mathematica und verwandter Systeme. Monatshefte für Mathematik und Physik 38, 173–198.
Kant I. (1989): Kritik der reinen Vernunft( Reclam, Stuttgart).
Luhmann N. (1992): Die Wissenschaft der Gesellschaft( Suhrkamp, Frankfurt).
Maturana H.R., Varela F.J. (1980): Autopoesis and Cognition: The Realization of the Living( Reidel, Dordrecht).
Spencer-Brown G. (1969): Laws of Form( George Allen and Unwin, London).
Varela F.J. (1975): A calculus for self-reference. Int. J. General Systems 2, 5–24.
Wheeler J.A. (1983): Law without law. In Quantum Theory and Measurement, ed. by J.A. Wheeler, W.H. Zurek (Princeton University Press, Princeton ), 182–213.
Wittgenstein L. (1984): Tractatus logico-philosophicus( Suhrkamp, Frankfurt).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1997 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kull, A. (1997). Self-Reference and Time According to Spencer-Brown. In: Atmanspacher, H., Ruhnau, E. (eds) Time, Temporality, Now. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-60707-3_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-60707-3_6
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-64518-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-60707-3
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive