Life as Autarchy: Deconstructing Bio-Theological Paradigm

Abstract

How can life be defined? In this paper, I will stress the importance of self-sufficiency (or, more rigorously, “autarchy”) in defining what life is in Western thought. I will address philosophy, biology, and theology, by studying Aristotle’s natural philosophy, Thomas Aquinas’ theology, and Maturana and Varela’s biological theory of autopoiesis. Although self-sufficiency is quite revealing of what life is, I will argue that it does notdo justice to the relational essence of life, being my goal to open new perspectives on life by placing the prefix syn- over the prefix autós-. The philosophical task today seems to be to understand what relationality and community means, and I argue that for that end the “autarchy paradigm” should be challenged, understanding life (bíos) essentially as “life in common” (symbiosis).