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A personal account of Gregory Bateson and the turning over of the generations, carrying some of Bateson's way of thinking forward to the time and beyond. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The approach taken is that of a synthesis.

Bateson attributed the ecological peril to bad thinking and suggested that the author needs better thinking, including what the author can learn from the syncretic practice of art. To operate in the realm of play – music, poetry, myth, and so on – in the context of hearing your children talk about Malthusian events and mass extinctions is perhaps a way of fiddling while Rome burns. But possibly, this is itself the practice – a way to begin to master the new kinds of thinking that the author needs to learn to do.

The issues that Bateson touched on are intensely personal. The issue of the survival of the ecosystem and of human civilization in the forms that the author recognizes is not an academic or political matter, but personal for each of us, as is the creative response.

This paper aims to describe the author's efforts to translate and publish books by Gregory Bateson in the difficult conditions of post‐communist Russia.

The story of this publishing project can be traced back to early 1980s and included the author's personal meeting with Michael Murphy during his visit to Moscow.

Describes the production of translated version of Bateson's works published in Russian.

Provides information of value to those interested in the human condition.

To propose a conceptual paradigm for unifying concepts of material, living and spiritual nature, based on the natural philosophy of Gregory Bateson and the more formal relational theories of Robert Rosen.

The paper combines Bateson's natural philosophy with the relational meta‐theory of Robert Rosen to develop the world view we believe Bateson argued for. It shows that the assumptions of this view correspond with Vedic philosophy. An integral view of nature that can underlie mechanistic and relational science is provided.

Bateson's natural philosophy can be interpreted in terms of Rosen's relational concepts to provide a unifying view of nature based on information entailments. This is described in terms of an irreducible complementarity between abstract and material aspects of nature (corresponding to Bateson's “mind and nature”) that forms a causally effective, or “necessary” unity. Encoding and decoding relations correspond with Bateson's ideas of patterns and information. The general application of this view suggests a reality not unlike the “immortal luminous being” described in the Vedas and Upanishads of India.

The paper shows why the dualistic/mechanistic view of nature is inadequate for understanding living systems and natural complexity. It describes a more general foundation from which living and generative aspects of nature can be studied. This corresponds with the Vedic concept of intrinsic value (divinity) in nature, and lends support to deep ecology ethics. As Bateson argued, the relational view can be an ethical instrument, leading away from conflict as to understand better the roots of interconnectedness.

The concept of information is central to several fields of research and professional practice. So many definitions have been put forward that complete inventory is unachievable while authors have failed to reach a consensus. In the face of the present impasse, innovative proposals could rouse information theorists to action, but literature surveys tend to emphasize the common traits of definitions. Reviewers are inclined to iron out originality in information models; thus the purpose of this paper is to discover the creativity of authors attempting to define the concept of information and to stimulate the progress of studies in this field.

Because the present inquiry could be influenced and distorted by personal criteria and opinions, the authors have adopted precise criteria and guidelines. It could be said the present approach approximates a statistical methodology.

The findings of this paper include (1) The authors found 32 original definitions of information which sometimes current surveys have overlooked. (2) The authors found a relation between information theories and advances in information technology. (3) Overall, the authors found that researchers take account of a wide variety of perspectives yet overlook the notion of information as used by computing practitioners such as electronic engineers and software developers.

The authors comment on some limitations of the procedure that was followed. Results 1 and 3 open up new possibilities for theoretical research in the information domain.

This is an attempt to conduct a bibliographical inquiry driven by objective and scientific criteria; its value lies in the fact that final report has not been influenced by personal choice or arbitrary viewpoints.

To assess the recent influence of Gregory Bateson on publication within the field of psychotherapy.

Literature survey of all accessible literature from 1996 to 2006, utilizing citation search engines for identification purposes followed by reading and evaluating the most relevant publications.

Research that investigates Bateson's ideas is promising but scarce, and theoretical development that builds on his constructs is rare. Apart from frequency in citation, his contributions seem to be more durable than generative.

Owing to the volume of data, a complete survey of literature was impossible, focusing our work on psychotherapy for this paper. Other projects surveying fields such as management and sociology should be undertaken to assess Bateson's influence.

Practice should be tied to theory‐building and ongoing research rather than nostalgia, myopic commitment to ideals, or myth. Purposeful commitment to cybernetic theory and practice development is needed.

Few literature reviews have attempted to conduct a survey this broad. It is believed this has been successful in addressing actual publication practices.

The paper is aimed at understanding and investigating Gregory Bateson's and Heinz von Foerster's peculiar relation to knowledge, the unknowable, and research. From this, the question of how to carry on their heritage is raised.

The whole paper is designed as an epistemological experiment starting from reflections on Gregory Bateson's metalogues and adopting a methodological style of reasoning. A strong focus is laid on the combination of loose and strict thinking which is characteristic of both Heinz von Foerster and Gregory Bateson.

In order to preserve and further develop their heritage, it is necessary to deal with Bateson's and Foerster's view(s) on the relations between the unknowable and the meaning of research. This has to be done in a manner in which epistemology and research become a personal as well ecological matter in which the relationship between the single individual and its greater context becomes explicit.

This paper refuses to view science and cybernetics within predefined boundaries. It suggests that the form of science and its relations to the individual and the community should be viewed as processes of constant re‐generation.

The value of this paper lies in viewing the similarities of Bateson's and von Foerster's peculiar style as general guidelines for future research and an understanding of epistemology.

To elucidate the relationship between science and the arts in Gregory Bateson's thinking, from the viewpoint of an artist‐musician and student of Bateson.

Synthesis.

One theme that pervaded Gregory Bateson's lifelong contribution was the rich and complex interface between art and science. Artistry (which may occur in either the arts or the sciences) plays across the interface between conscious and unconscious mind and environment. We come in actual practice to an appreciation and a facility for working with total cybernetic systems rather than the fragmented bits and pieces which are taught in conventional education and media. Through the play and discipline of creativity, we are able to experience this total systemic view of mind and nature.

Shows the reader significant ways of seeing the systems nature of our world through the experience and the practice of artistic creativity.