From the Logic of Science to the Logic of the Living

Biosemiotics belongs to a class of approaches that provide mental models of life since it applies some semiotic concepts in the explanation of natural phenomena. Such approaches are typically open to anthropomorphic errors. Usually, the main source of such errors is the excessive vagueness of the semiotic concepts used. If the goal of biosemiotics is to be accepted as a science and not as a priori metaphysics, it needs both an appropriate source of the semiotic concepts and a reliable method of adjusting them for biosemiotic use. Charles S. Peirce’s philosophy offers a plausible candidate for both these needs. Biosemioticians have adopted not only Peirce’s semiotic concepts but also a number of metaphysical ones. It is shown that the application of Peirce’s basic semiotic conceptions of sign and sign-process (semiosis) at the substantial level of biosemiotics requires the acceptance of certain metaphysical conceptions, i.e. Tychism and Synechism. Peirce’s method of pragmaticism is of great relevance to biosemiotics: 1. Independently of whether Peirce’s concepts are used or even applicable at the substantial level of biosemiotics, Peirce’s method remains valuable in making biosemiotics and especially in adjusting its basic concepts. 2. If Peircean semeiotic or metaphysics is applied at the substantial level of biosemiotics, pragmaticism is valuable in clarifying the meaning and reference of the applied Peircean concepts. As a consequence, some restrictions for the application of Peirce in biosemiotics are considered and the distinction of Peirce’s philosophy from the 19th century idealistic Naturphilosophie is emphasized

Limitations on applying Peircean semeiotic. Biosemiotics as applied objective ethics and esthetics rather than semeiotic.

This paper explores the critical conditions of such semiotic realism that is commonly presumed in the so-called Copenhagen interpretation of biosemiotics. The central task is to make basic biosemiotic concepts as clear as possible by applying C.S. Peirce’s pragmaticist methodology to his own concepts, especially to those that have had a strong influence on the Copenhagian biosemiotics. It appears essential to study what kinds of observation the basic semiotic concepts are derived from. Peirce had two different derivations to the concept of sign, both having a strong logical character. Therefore, it is discussed at length what Peirce’s conception of logic consists of and how logical concepts relate to the concepts of other sciences. It is shown that Peirce had two different perspectives toward sign, the ‘transcendental’ one and the objective one, and only the latter one is executable in biosemiotic applications. Although Peirce’ theory of signs seems to appear as twofold (if not even manifold), it is concluded that the ore conception has been stable. The apparent differences are presumably due to the different perspectives of consideration. Severe limitations for the application of Peirce’s semiotic concepts follow from this analysis that should be taken into account in biosemiotics relying on its Copenhagen interpretation. The first one concerns the ‘interpreter’ of a suggested biosemiotic sign — whether it is ‘we’ (as a ‘meta-agent’) or some genuine biosemiotic ‘object-agent’. Only if the latter one is determinable, some real biosemiotic sign-action may occur. The second one concerns the application of the concept of the object of sign — its use is limited so that a sign has an object if and only if it seeks a true conception about it. This conclusion has drastic further consequences. Most of the genuinely biosemiotic sign-processes do not tend toward truth about anything but toward various practical ends. Therefore, the logical concept of sign, e.g. the one of Peirce’s semeiotic, is an insufficient concept for biosemiotics. In order to establish a sufficient one, Peircean theoretical ethics and esthetics are introduced. It is concluded that they involve simpler and more general but still normative concept of sign — the concept of anticipative or constructive representation that does not represent any object at all. Instead, it is a completely future-oriented representation that guides action. Objective ethics provides the suitable concept of representation, but it appeals to objective esthetics that provides a theory of (local) natural self-normativity. The concepts of objective logic form the special species of objective ethics. The conclusion is that biosemiotics should be based on applied objective ethics and esthetics rather than on (Peircean semeiotic) logic and its metaphysical application. Finally, the physiosemiotic over-generalization of the concept of sign is shortly discussed. It is suggested that it would be more appropriate to rename such controversial generalizations than to adhere to semiotic terminology. Here, again, Peirce appears as a healthy role model with his ‘ethics of terminology’

Entering the Exiting: The Distinctive Features of al-Ibāḍīya

No abstrac

Why and how to naturalize semiotic concepts for biosemiotics

Any attempt to develop biosemiotics either towards a new biological ground theory or towards a metaphysics of living nature necessitates some kind of naturalization of its semiotic concepts. Instead of standard physicalistic naturalism, a certain kind of semiotic naturalism is pursued here. The naturalized concepts are defined as referring only to the objects of our external experience. When the semiotic concepts are applied to natural phenomena in biosemiotics, there is a risk of falling into anthropomorphic errors if the semiotic concepts remain mentalistic. It is suggested that there really is an anthropomorphic error or “hidden prototype fallacy” arising from Peirce’s prototype for semiosis: the research process of an experimental scientist. The fallacy lies in the concept of the object of representation — it is questionable whether there are any objects of representation for bacteria and whether the DNA-signs have any objects. The conclusion is that Peircean semiotic concepts are naturalizable but only if they are based on some more primitive concept of representation. The causal origins of representations are not relevant, only their anticipative consequences (i.e. meaning)

Terveen miehen anabolisten steroidien käyttö

Testosteronin ja anabolisten steroidien käyttö on lisääntynyt kilpaurheilun ulkopuolella tavallisten kuntoiluharrastajien keskuudessa. Kuntodopingin käytöllä tavoitellaan muutoksia suorituskykyyn ja erityisesti ulkonäköön. Anabolisten steroidien käyttöön liittyy tunnettuja ja vakavia useisiin elinjärjestelmiin liittyviä haittavaikutuksia. Kuntodopingissa useiden anabolisten steroidivalmisteiden yhdistely suuriksi annoksiksi ja lisäksi muiden lääkeaineiden käyttö steroidien rinnalla lisäävät edelleen haittavaikutuksien esiintymistä. Yleisiä haittavaikutuksia miehillä ovat siittiötuotannon häiriö, hedelmättömyys ja anabolisten hormonien käyttöön liittyvä hypogonadismi, jotka tulisi tunnistaa. Suurimmalla osalla sekundaarinen hypogonadismi ja kivesten toiminta palautuvat kuukausien kuluessa anabolisten steroidien käytön lopettamisesta.</p

Insuliininpuutosdiabetes ja liikunta - miten välttää hypoglykemia?

Vertaisarvioitu. English summary. Näin hoidan.Säännöllisen liikunnan on osoitettu parantavan insuliiniherkkyyttä ja vaikuttavan edullisesti sydän- ja verisuonitautiriskiin. Siksi insuliininpuutosdiabetesta sairastaville suositellaan liikunnan harrastamista. Hypoglykemia on tavallisin liikuntaan liittyvä haittavaikutus, ja etenkin sen pelko voi estää liikunnan harrastamista. Insuliininpuutosdiabeteksen hyvä omahoito mahdollistaa hyvän hoitotasapainon vaihtuvissa arkipäivän tilanteissa, kuten liikunnan yhteydessä. Tämä kuitenkin edellyttää, että insuliininpuutosdiabetesta sairastava ymmärtää eri liikuntamuotojen sekä liikunnan intensiivisyyden ja keston vaikutukset oman elimistönsä reaktioihin ja ennen kaikkea verenglukoosiarvoihinsa. Jatkuva glukoosisensorointi yhdessä kehittyvän insuliinipumpputeknologian ja entistä fysiologisempien insuliinien myötä auttaa insuliininpuutosdiabetesta sairastavan omahoitoa myös liikunnan aikana merkittävästi

Anoreksiapotilaan endokriiniset poikkeavuudet

English summaryPeer reviewe

Metabolic, inflammatory and haemostatic effects of a low-dose continuous combined HRT in women with type 2 diabetes: potentially safer with respect to vascular risk?

BACKGROUND Conventional hormone replacement therapy (HRT) containing conjugated equine oestrogen (CEE) and medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) increases triglyceride, C- reactive protein (CRP) and coagulation Factor VII concentrations, potentially explaining their increased coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke risk. OBJECTIVE To assess the metabolic effects of a continuous combined HRT containing 1 mg oestradiol and 0.5 mg norethisterone or matching placebo. DESIGN Double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trial. PATIENTS Fifty women with type 2 diabetes. MEASUREMENTS Classical and novel risk factors for vascular disease. RESULTS Triglyceride concentration was not altered (P = 0.31, change in active arm relative to placebo) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol concentration declined 13% (P = 0.018). IL-6 concentration (mean difference -1.42 pg/ml, 95% CI: -2.55 to - 0.29 IU/dl, P = 0.015), Factor VII (-32 IU/dl, -43 to -21 IU/l, P lt 0.001) and tissue plasminogen activator antigen (by 13%, P = 0.005) concentrations fell, but CRP was not significantly altered (P = 0.62). Fasting glucose (P = 0.026) also declined significantly, but there are no significant effects on HBA1c, Factor IX or APC resistance. CONCLUSIONS HRT containing 1 mg oestradiol and 0.5 mg norethisterone may avoid the adverse metabolic effects potentially implicated in the elevated CHD and stroke risk induced by conventional higher dose HRT. This type of preparation may therefore be more suitable than conventional HRT for women at elevated CHD risk such as those with type 2 diabetes. Large randomized controlled trials of such low dose preparations, powered for cardiovascular end points, are now needed