Understanding-by-Building Coexistence: Maturana and the Constructivist Roots of Human–Robot Coevolution

I take Humberto Matura- na’s reflections on robotics, as expressed in his interview with Ignacio Muñoz-Cris- ti, as a starting point to explore their rel- evance for contemporary social robotics. I suggest that Maturana’s relational con- ception of sociality offers a framework for understanding why social robots are becoming part of human coexistence, and outline a constructivist approach to sustaining relational life.