{"id":435,"date":"2015-05-06T07:52:43","date_gmt":"2015-05-06T11:52:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/people.clas.ufl.edu\/ulan\/?page_id=435"},"modified":"2026-03-19T08:29:03","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T12:29:03","slug":"3rdwindow","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/people.clas.ufl.edu\/ulan\/publications\/philosophy\/3rdwindow\/","title":{"rendered":"A Third Window: Natural Life beyond Newton and Darwin"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n
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A Third Window: Natural Life beyond Newton and Darwin<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Robert E. Ulanowicz<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Templeton Foundation Press
\n2009\/224pp.
\nPaper $19.96\/ISBN 978-1-59947-154-9<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

\"Third_Window\"<\/a>Thus far, the dominant paradigms through which modern scientists have viewed nature have been structured primarily around Newtonian and Darwinian approaches. As theoretical ecologist Robert E. Ulanowicz observes in his new work,\u00a0A Third Window<\/i>, neither of these models is sufficient for explaining how real change\u2014in the form of creative advance or emergence\u2014takes place in nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

The metaphysical foundations laid by these great thinkers centuries ago are ill suited to sustain today’s search for a comprehensive description of complex living systems. Ecosystem dynamics, for example, violate each and every one of the Newtonian presuppositions. Hence, Ulanowicz offers his titular “third window”\u2014a new way of understanding evolution and other natural processes beyond the common mechanistic or materialistic philosophies of nature. Drawing on the writings of Walter Elsasser, Karl Popper, Gregory Bateson, Robert Rosen, and Alfred North Whitehead, as well as his own experience as a theoretical ecologist, Ulanowicz offers a new set of axioms for how nature behaves. Chance and disarray in natural processes are shown to be necessary conditions for real change. Randomness is shown to contribute richness and autonomy to the natural world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

The metaphysical implications of these new axioms will lend\u00a0A Third Window<\/i>\u00a0a wide appeal not only among scientists, but also among philosophers, theologians, and general readers who follow the science and religion dialogue. Ulanowicz’s fresh perspective adds a new voice to the discussion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Available from Templeton Press<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n<\/section>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":541,"featured_media":0,"parent":167,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"featured_post":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-435","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.clas.ufl.edu\/ulan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.clas.ufl.edu\/ulan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.clas.ufl.edu\/ulan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.clas.ufl.edu\/ulan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/541"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.clas.ufl.edu\/ulan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=435"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/people.clas.ufl.edu\/ulan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/435\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":668,"href":"https:\/\/people.clas.ufl.edu\/ulan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/435\/revisions\/668"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.clas.ufl.edu\/ulan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.clas.ufl.edu\/ulan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}