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Edgar Morin, the thinker of complexity, dies at 104

The French philosopher and sociologist, a pioneer of complex thought, anticipated the 21st century's polycrisis with a work spanning multiple disciplines.

Close-up of an old, open book with complex diagrams and handwritten notes on its pages, in a dimly lit library.
IA

Close-up of an old, open book with complex diagrams and handwritten notes on its pages, in a dimly lit library.

The passing of French philosopher and sociologist Edgar Morin at 104 signifies the end of an intellectual era, leaving a crucial legacy for understanding the interconnectedness of contemporary crises.

The passing of Edgar Morin, who died in Paris at the age of 104, marks the end of one of the most unique intellectual careers of the last century. Morin dedicated his life to reforming ways of knowing, organizing knowledge, and understanding an increasingly interdependent world, anticipating the polycrisis of the 21st century.
His work, spanning physics, biology, sociology, and epistemology, was underpinned by the conviction that the thought inherited from modernity was no longer sufficient to describe reality. Unlike Sartre, for whom the subject was the starting point, Morin considered it merely a node within an infinite network of biological, social, and historical loops, thus constructing the edifice of complex thought.
His magnum opus, La Méthode, published in six volumes between 1977 and 2004, formulated three fundamental principles: the dialogical (accepting antagonistic and complementary terms), organizational recursivity (effects act upon their causes), and the holographic (the whole is present in each part). These principles were applied to various planes, from matter to ethics, seeking to reorganize knowledge in the face of disciplinary fragmentation.
In The Seven Liberal Arts for the Education of the Future, developed for UNESCO, Morin advocated for an education that addressed the errors of knowledge, the human condition, and uncertainty, championing the interconnectedness of knowledge against education isolated by disciplines.
Morin's originality lay in his dialogue with cybernetics and systems theory, but with a different focus than Anglo-Saxon complexity science. While the latter concentrated on mathematical modeling, Morin emphasized reflexivity: what it means to know when the observer is part of what is observed. This approach earned him significant impact in continental Europe and Latin America, where he was considered a "universal master," although his presence in the English-speaking world was later and more partial.
The concept of polycrisis, formulated by Morin since the 1990s, has gained significant traction to describe the interaction of ecological, economic, social, and political crises. The term has been adopted by historians and global organizations to characterize the contemporary moment.
Morin's legacy is not a closed system; he proposed the need for a reform of thought but left open the question of its institutional implementation. He also did not fully develop the implications of artificial intelligence or digital platforms. However, his insistence on reflexivity, uncertainty, and responsibility in the face of simplified knowledge remains essential for addressing the challenges of the current world.

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