Biosemiosis and Causation: Defending Biosemiotics Through Rosen's Theoretical Biology, or, Integrating Biosemiotics and Anticipatory Systems Theory

The fracture in the emerging discipline of biosemiotics when the code biologist Marcello Barbieri claimed that Peircian biosemiotics is not genuine science raises anew the question: What is science? When it comes to radically new approaches in science, there is no simple answer to this question, because if successful, these new approaches change what is understood to be science. This is what Galileo, Darwin and Einstein did to science, and with quantum theory, opposing interpretations are not merely about what theory is right, but what is real science. Peirce's work, as he acknowledged, is really a continuation of efforts of Schelling to challenge the heritage of Newtonian science for the very good reason that the deep assumptions of Newtonian science had made sentient life, human consciousness and free will unintelligible, the condition for there being science. Pointing out the need for such a revolution in science has not succeeded as a defence of Peircian biosemiotics, however. In this paper, I will defend the scientific credentials of Peircian biosemiotics by relating it to the theoretical biology of the bio-mathematician, Robert Rosen. Rosen's relational biology, focusing on anticipatory systems and giving a place to final causes, should also be seen as a rigorous development of the Schellingian project to conceive nature in such a way that the emergence of sentient life, mind and science are intelligible. Rosen has made a very strong case for the characterization of his ideas as a real advance not only in science, but in how science should be understood, and I will argue that it is possible to provide a strong defence of Peircian biosemiotics as science through Rosen's defence of relational biology. In the process, I will show how biosemiotics can and should become a crucial component of anticipatory systems theory

Animal Umwelten in a Changing world: Zoosemiotic Perspectives

The book raises semiotic questions of human–animal relations: what is the semiotic character of different species, how humans endow animals with meaning, and how animal sign exchange and communication has coped with environmental change. The book takes a zoosemiotic approach and considers different species as being integrated with the environment via their specific umwelt or subjective perceptual world. The authors elaborate J. v. Uexküll’s concept of umwelt to make it applicable for analyzing complex and dynamical interactions between animals, humans, environment and culture. The opening chapters of the book present a framework for philosophical, historical, epistemological and methodological aspects of zoosemiotic research. These initial considerations are followed by specific case studies: on human–animal interactions in zoological gardens, communication in the teams of visually disabled persons and guiding dogs, semiotics of the animal condition in philosophy, historical changes in the role of animals in human households, the semiotics of predation, cultural perception of novel species, and other topics. The authors belong to the research group in zoosemiotics and human–animal relations based in the Department of Semiotics at the University of Tartu in Estonia, and in the University of Stavanger in Norway

Looduskujutuse semiootika: looduskirjanduse näitel

Töö eesmärgiks on avada uusi perspektiive looduskirjanduse uurimisel, kombineerides selleks semiootika ja ökokriitika vahendeid. Tartu-Moskva koolkonna semiootikutelt pärinevad primaarsete ja sekundaarsete modelleerivate süsteemide mõisted. Primaarseks modelleerivaks süsteemiks on nende käsitluses keel kui vahendatud inimsuhtluse põhiline vahend. Sekundaarsed modelleerivad süsteemid nagu kirjandus, film ning paljud teised kunstilise väljenduse liigid põhinevad keelel kui märgisüsteemil, tegeledes meid ümbritseva maailma kunstilise modelleerimisega. Ameerika semiootik Thomas A. Sebeok osutas, et neile, puhtalt inimliigile omastele modelleerivatele süsteemidele, eelneb nii inimeste kui teiste loomade puhul zoosemiootilise modelleerimise tasand, mis põhineb meie tajudel ja kehalisel kogemusel maailmaga suhestumisel. Jakob von Uexkülli mõistet kasutades põhineb zoosemiootiline modelleerimine omailmal (Umwelt) ehk liigispetsiifiliste taju- ja mõjuorganite koostoimel loodaval arusaamal oma keskkonnast ning sellega suhestumise viisidest. Seega võime lähtuda tõdemusest, et modelleerimine on igasuguse mõtestamis- ja kujutamistegevuse alus. Mudel on kommunikatsioonivahend, mis võimaldab nii kunstilist kui teaduslikku infoedastust. Inimliigile omane modelleerimine toimub peaasjalikult loomuliku keele ning selles keeles esitatavate representatsioonide abil. Representatsiooni all mõistan käesolevas töös keskkonna vahendatud esitamist inimkeele kasutamise erijuhu – kirjanduse – vahenditega. Oma töös uurin kirjanduse spestiifilist alaliiki – looduskirjandust. Eesti looduskirjandus kitsamas mõttes on algupäraselt eesti keeles kirjutatud dokumentaalproosa, mis põhineb autori isiklikel looduskogemustel ning loodusteaduslikul informatsioonil ja annab seda edasi kirjanduslikus keeles. Looduskirjandus on tekstuaalse ülesehituse põhimõtetelt sarnane ilukirjandusega, mistõttu teda saab uurida kirjandusteaduslike vahenditega, nagu seda teeb ökokriitika. Erinevalt kirjandustekstist suunab looduskirjandus oma lugejat tekstist läbi, tagasi selle reaalse (loodus)keskkonna juurde, mida tekstis on kujutatud. Iga tekst sisaldab varjatud või vähem varjatud kujul alati ka zoosemiootilise modelleerimise tasandit: tajud, teiste liikide omailmad, liikumis- ja toitumisviisid jm. Biosemiootika aitab seda kihistust nähtavaks teha. Lisaks on töös kasutatud ka teiste distsipliinide abi (botaanika, ajalugu). See ajendab töö viimases osas mõtisklusi distsipliinideülese koostöö võimalustest suunaga keskkonnahumanitaaria poole, et anda oma panus globaalsete keskkonnaprobleemide lahendamisse. Semiootilise mõttevahetuse seisukohalt on oluline töös esitatud mõistete tekst, omailm, mudel ja representatsioon omavaheline suhestamine näitamaks, kuidas looduskirjanduses nende abil tähendusi luuakse. Representatsiooni mõiste lähivaatluse abil jõuame parema arusaamani inimese kui liigi tähendusloomepraktikatest, aga ka nende kasutamisest liikideüleses kommunikatsioonis.The aim of the present thesis is to open up new perspectives in the study of nature writing, combining semiotic and ecocritical approaches. The idea of primary and secondary modelling systems originates from Tartu-Moscow school of semiotics. In their works, human language is considered as primary modelling system – it is the main means of mediated human communication. Secondary modelling systems, such as literature, film, and many others that deal with artistic modelling of the world, are based on language as a sign system. Thomas A. Sebeok, an American semiotician, pointed out that those exclusievly human modelling systems are preceded by a zoosemiotic level of modelling that is based on our sensory and bodily experience in relating to the material world. Using the concept coined by Jakob von Uexküll, we can say that zoosemiotic modelling is based on Umwelt, or the life-world as formed in the combination of the species-specific sensory organs and the repertoire of possible ways of relating to the environment around us. Thus we can proceed from the understanding that modelling is the foundation of all interpretational and representational activities. Model is a means of communication that enables both artistic and scientific propagation of information. Modelling characteristic of human species takes place mainly with the help of human language and by representations created in human language. Representation is understood in the present work in the limits of language-mediated descriptions of environment as they appear in literary texts. The material for my work comes from a specific sub-field of literature, namely nature writing. Estonian nature writing in a narrow sense is understood as documentary prose that is based on the author’s personal experiences in nature, informed by knowledge of natural history and biology in general, and written in literary language. In regard of textual poetics, nature writing is similar to fiction, and can therefore be studied using the means of literary studies, as traditionally done in ecocriticism. What is different in case of nature writing, is that unlike fiction, it invites its reader to move beyond the text, to the natural environment that has been represented in a piece of nature writing. More or less explicitly, each literary text also contains the level of zoosemiotic modelling: senses, Umwelten of other species, their ways of movement, feeding, etc. Biosemiotic analysis helps to bring this layer of modelling to the fore. In addition, the work contains articles written in co-operation with researchers from other disciplines (botanics, history). Stemming from that experience, the last part of the cover article is devoted to questions related to cross-disciplinary co-operation in connection to the notion of environmental humanities, in order to contribute to the search for solutions to our global environmental problems. It is proposed that the original contribution of the present work into the general semiotic discussion lies in relating the concepts of text, Umwelt, model, and representation to each other and demonstrating how meaning is created in in nature writing in their interplay. By analysing the notion of representation, a better understanding of human sign-use practices is achieved, ass well as a bettern understanding of the application possibilities of human signification in inter-species communication

How low can you go? Bioenactivism, cognitive biology and Umwelt ontology

The viability of enactivist philosophy in providing descriptions of biological phenomena (bioenactivism) across the phylogenetic spectrum relies in large part on the scalability of its central concepts, i.e. whether they remain operative at varying levels of biological complexity. In this paper, I will examine the possibility of scaling two deeply intertwined concepts: cognition and surrounding world (Umwelt). Contra some indications from Varela and others, I will argue that the concept of embodied cognition can be scaled down below the level of the organism. I will draw upon the “cognitive biology” espoused by Kováč (2000, 2006) and Monod’s (1971) studies of protein behaviour to make this case. The downscaling of embodied cognition below the level of the organism has ramifications for how we understand the concept of surrounding world (Umwelt). Reconfiguring the relation between these two central bioenactive concepts has further consequences for what ontological commitments bioenactive thinking leads to, and what paths of investigation it points us toward

Uexkülli fenomenoloogia ja omailma üleminekud: Norra hundipopulatsiooni majandamise ökosemiootiline analüüs

Väitekirja elektrooniline versioon ei sisalda publikatsioone.Käesoleva väitekirja peamiseks ülesandeks on anda oma panus omailma mõistete ja mudelite arendamisse (omailmateooriasse Uexkülli-järgses traditsioonis) ning kirjeldada semiootilisi mehhanisme, mis Skandinaavias huntide ja lammaste populatsioonide reguleerimisel esinevad, pöörates põhitähelepanu loomade märgilistele suhetele inimesega. Norra huntide majandamise juhtumianalüüsi kasutatakse töös, testimaks väitekirjas arendatud teoreetiliste mõistete ja mudelite rakendamist. Väitekiri koosneb seitsmest avaldatud artiklist. Kolmes artiklis analüüsitakse Uexkülli mõistestikku ning arendatakse seda edasi, lähtudes diakroonilisest fenomenoloogiast; kaks artiklit on pühendatud inimökoloogia globaalsetele aspektidele ning kaks tegelevad detailsemalt tänapäevase Norra hundiökoloogia ökosemiootilise analüüsiga. Väitekirja keskseks mõisteks on omailma üleminek, mis on uexküllilik mõiste keskkonnamuutuse kohta. Uexküllilik fenomenoloogia erineb enamikust fenomenoloogia suundadest selle poolest, et see pole teadvusekeskne ning ei asu fenomenide tegelikkuse küsimuses neutraalsele positsioonile. Omailma üleminek — ehk keskkonnamuutus sellisena, nagu see avaldub subjektiivsel ja kogemuslikul tasandil — erineb füsikokeemilisest keskkonnamuutuse mõistest, olles laiema mõistena kasutatav ühtaegu bioloogias (nii arengu- kui evolutsioonilises bioloogias) ja kultuuriteadustes. Töös kirjeldatakse inimese omailma kolmetist mudelit (rakendatavana koos fenomeniväljadega ning üldistades nii, et seda saaks rakendada loomadele üldiselt). Doktoritöös järeldatakse, et hundikaitse väljavaateid määravad oluliselt hundi sümbolilisusest tulenevad negatiivsed aspektid, mis Norra kontekstis peegeldavad põllumajanduslikke arenguid.The main task of this dissertation is to contribute to the development of Umwelt concepts and models – Umwelt theory in the tradition after Jakob von Uexküll – and to attempt to describe the semiotic mechanisms that regulate the wolf and sheep populations in Scandinavia, especially through their interaction with the human species. The case study on Norwegian wolf management is used as a test case for the application of theoretical concepts and models developed in the thesis. The thesis includes seven published papers. While three of them provide analysis of Uexküll's conceptual apparatus and develop it in terms of a diachronic phenomenological approach, two are devoted to mapping of global aspects of human ecology and two to ecosemiotic analysis of current Norwegian wolf ecology. The core concept of this work is Umwelt transition, which represents an Uexküllian notion of environmental change. Uexküllian phenomenology differs from most established phenomenologies by not being consciousness-centred, and by not adopting neutrality with regard to the reality status of phenomena. Umwelt transition – environmental change as manifested at the subjective, experiential level – differs from the mainstream, physio-chemical notion of environmental change in that it is a wider notion applicable in biology (both developmental and evolutionary) and cultural studies alike. A tripartite model of the human Umwelt (applicable in combination with phenomenal fields – and generalised so as to apply to animals in general) is sketched. The thesis eventually establishes that future wolf symbolicity in its negative aspects – in the Norwegian context mirroring agricultural developments – will determine the prospects of wolf conservation

Living and Knowing: How Nature Makes Knowledge Possible

Traditionally, epistemologies have been human-centred, while typically presenting themselves as objective "views from nowhere” applicable to all knowers.  One consequence of this is that the question, ‘How is knowledge possible?', has been either implausibly answered or ignored – except by naturalistic epistemologies, and in particular, evolutionary, biosemiotic, and autopoeitic approaches.  These approaches, recognizing that humans are not the only knowers, perceivers, cognizers and rememberers in nature, ask instead, ‘How does nature make knowledge possible?' thereby reconceiving epistemology as study of the cognition and experience of living, embodied, interacting and inter-signifying natural beings.  Nonetheless, their insights into how nature makes knowledge (and other epistemological achievements) possible, while instructive, typically are incomplete – in most cases because key aspects of the peculiar physical/causal dynamics of cognitive processes and their causal/functional roles in the lives of organisms, are insufficiently considered.  This paper seeks to redress this situation, to provide a clearer understanding of how nature makes knowledge (and other epistemological processes and achievements) possible. The argument draws upon insights of the approaches mentioned, and upon studies of biological hierarchy, natural emergence, complex causal dynamics and hierarchically structured causal processes, to show that nature's "inventions” of non-linear causation and cybernetic process-modulation led to the emergence of novel systems whose sensitivity to ultra-low-energy signals (for example, just a few molecules of a chemical compound) radically enhances their viability by producing a non-linear hierarchically ordered cascade of adaptive activity peculiarly associated with the signal type.  This is biosemiosis.  It is argued that the unique causal character of biosemiotic processes is not only their physical "signature”, but is essential to subsequently emergent cognitive processes and achievements and their functions, and indeed to the biological functions of the organic processes that make life possible.  This is a further reason (if further reason were needed) for holding biosemiosis to be, ontologically, a natural kind.  Indeed, an understanding of the distinctive causal/functional character of biosemiosis is the key to understanding how nature makes possible not only knowledge (and all other epistemological processes and achievements) but also, by those semiotic means, life itself.

Animal Umwelten in a Changing world: Zoosemiotic Perspectives

The book raises semiotic questions of human–animal relations: what is the semiotic character of different species, how humans endow animals with meaning, and how animal sign exchange and communication has coped with environmental change. The book takes a zoosemiotic approach and considers different species as being integrated with the environment via their specific umwelt or subjective perceptual world. The authors elaborate J. v. Uexküll’s concept of umwelt to make it applicable for analyzing complex and dynamical interactions between animals, humans, environment and culture. The opening chapters of the book present a framework for philosophical, historical, epistemological and methodological aspects of zoosemiotic research. These initial considerations are followed by specific case studies: on human–animal interactions in zoological gardens, communication in the teams of visually disabled persons and guiding dogs, semiotics of the animal condition in philosophy, historical changes in the role of animals in human households, the semiotics of predation, cultural perception of novel species, and other topics. The authors belong to the research group in zoosemiotics and human–animal relations based in the Department of Semiotics at the University of Tartu in Estonia, and in the University of Stavanger in Norway

The Obesity Crisis and Semiotic Corruption

Is there an obesity crisis?  Postmodernists like Michael Gard argue that there is not while epidemiologists argue that there is and it is growing.  In this paper, I argue that such polarized positions are not a sign of healthy dialectic, but a sign of an increasingly fragmented and reductionist obesity research field.  As a further example, I draw on long term seemingly unresolvable disputes within nutrition brought about through reductionist approaches.  I argue that there is an obesity crisis, that it is linked to other major global crises and that to meaningfully address it will require greater unity within the obesity research field.  I therefore put forward the post-reductionist general concept of semiotic corruption developed by process philosopher, Arran Gare and drawn from the emerging post-reductionist field of biosemiotics, as a potential unifying concept for the field.  In doing this I explore the history and nature of biosemiotics and its links to other holistic traditions which all seek to mend the gross philosophical errors committed by those such as Descartes who ruptured the relationship between living and non-living processes.  I then discuss some implications of this holistic approach for better understanding obesity as semiotic corruption, particularly focusing on the concepts of embodied, anticipatory systems and the need for a new ethics of health which understands and augments the real complexity and irreducibility of life

On the Semiosphere, Revisited

The semiosphere is frequently described as a topos of complexification, namely discontinuous or heterogeneous, recursive or self-reflexive, stochastic, radically subjective, and capable of simultaneous multiple perspectives. While the topos of complexification describes the gross morphology of a model, it is not a model adequate for explaining phenomena or making predictions. The ecological theory of dual hierarchies is proposed as a framework for developing models of the semiosphere that are appropriately limited in scope and scale. In particular the semiosphere is modeled as a dual hierarchy of semiotic spaces, the dual hierarchies corresponding to the semiosis that is occurring within the dual hierarchies of ecological organization. This framework immediately solves several theoretical problems, such as clearing up conceptual inconsistencies in Lotman's concept of semiosphere