Abstract

By assuming the contemporary theory of biological complexity as the theoretical reference point, this paper aims to highlight the interdisciplinary research outcomes of late Kauffman. In particular, this essay examines in depth the fundamental concepts of autonomous agent, propagating work, and embodied information deeply connected within a multidimensional and hierarchical epistemological framework. In this perspective, the paper outlines a concept of information as constraints on the release of energy that constitutes work, assuming the hypothesis that natural selection maximizes the diversity of work in living systems. Moreover, the article underlines the need to identify new informational measures of biological complexity - measures that cannot concern only statistical rarity or computational incompressibility.