Ontology of complexity: A reading of Gregory Bateson

This essay on Gregory Bateson attempts a reading of his thought from a purely philosophical-ontological standpoint. The epistemological issues raised by Bateson are interpreted as intimately connected to Heidegger’s problem of overcoming of metaphysics and question concerning the Sense of Being. Bateson’s setting of mind/body question, his formal definition of the concept of ‘mind’ and his interpretation of phenomena related to the sacred and the functioning of mental systems, are assumed as conceptual tools exceeding the implicit assumptions of substantialist and dualistic onto-theo-logy belonging to the Western tradition. Furthermore, in the appendix Bateson’s notion of ‘sacred’ is taken as the key point for a possible postmodern determination of the essence of religion.