Barbieri Introduction to Biosemiotics

The New Biological Synthesis
1. Auflage 2007
ISBN: 978-1-4020-4814-2
Verlag: Springer Netherlands
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 530 Seiten

Combining research approaches from biology, philosophy and linguistics, the field of Biosemiotics proposes that animals, plants and single cells all engage in semiosis - the conversion of objective signals into conventional signs. This has important implications and applications for issues ranging from natural selection to animal behavior and human psychology, leaving biosemiotics at the cutting edge of the research on the fundamentals of life. Drawing on an international expertise, the book details the history and study of biosemiotics, and provides a state-of-the-art summary of the current work in this new field. And, with relevance to a wide range of disciplines - from linguistics and semiotics to evolutionary phenomena and the philosophy of biology - the book provides an important text for both students and established researchers, while marking a vital step in the evolution of a new biological paradigm.

MARCELLO BARBIERI is University professor of Embryology at the University of Ferrara, Italy. He has conducted research on embryonic development and ribosome crystallization at the Medical Research Council in Cambridge, UK, the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, USA, and the Max-Planck-Institut für Molekulare Genetik in Berlin. He has published books on embryology and evolution, and has taught biophysics, molecular embryology and theoretical biology respectively at the Universities of Bologna, Sassari and Turin. His research interests include embryology, evolution and biosemiotics. He is president of the Italian Association for Theoretical Biology and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Biosemiotics. His major books include The Semantic Theory of Evolution (1985), Harwood Academic Publishers, New York, and The Organic Codes. An Introduction to Semantic Biology (2003), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge UK. Web page: www.cambridge.org/uk/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=0521531004 Web site: http://www.biologiateorica.it

Autoren/Hrsg.

Barbieri, Marcello

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;TABLE OF CONTENTS;6
2;EDITORIAL;8
3;ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS;10
4;REFERENCES;11
5;CHAPTER 1 THE EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF BIOSEMIOTICS;12
5.1;A PERSONAL PRELUDE: MY STROLL THROUGH THE WORLDS OF SCIENCES AND SIGNS;12
5.2;A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE TYING OF A GORDIAN KNOT;15
5.3;PHASE ONE: SEMIOTICS WITHOUT SCIENCE;16
5.4;AUGUSTINE: THE “NATURAL” AND “GIVEN” SIGNS;17
5.5;ARISTOTLE: ON LIFE AND ON INTERPRETATION;18
5.6;SIGN DIVERGENCE AND CONVERGENCE IN THE LATE MIDDLE AGES;21
5.7;PHASE TWO: SCIENCE WITHOUT SEMIOTICS;24
5.8;DESCARTES: BIFURCATING THE NATURAL WORLD INTO BODY AND SPIRIT;25
5.9;“NOTHING LOST”: MODERNITY PROCEEDS APACE;28
5.10;FROM DYADIC TO TRIADIC RELATIONS: “INFORMATION” INVADES THE SCENE;32
5.11;PHASE THREE: SCIENCE WITH SEMIOTICS;36
5.12;JOINING SIGN SCIENCE WITH LIFE SCIENCE: THOMAS A. SEBEOK;37
5.13;SEBEOK’S SYNTHESIS OF SCHOLARSHIP EAST AND WEST;38
5.14;SEBEOK’S SYNTHESIS OF CHARLES S. PEIRCE;40
5.15;SEBEOK’S SYNTHESIS OF JAKOB VON UEXKÜLL;42
5.16;A PROJECT OF MASS CROSS-POLLINATION: SEBEOK’S SYNTHESIS OF RESEARCHERS;44
5.17;SEBEOK’S LEGACY AND THE CONTINUATION OF THE BIOSEMIOTIC PROJECT;46
5.18;JOINING LIFE SCIENCE WITH SIGN SCIENCE: JESPER HOFFMEYER;48
5.19;A DIVERSE ECOSYSTEM OF RESEARCHERS: THE GATHERINGS IN BIOSEMIOTICS;52
5.20;CONTRIBUTIONS FROM OUTSIDE THE COPENHAGEN-TARTU NEXUS;53
5.21;DEVELOPMENTS AND CHALLENGES 2001–2005;54
5.22;MARCELLO BARBIERI: NOT INTERPRETATION, BUT ORGANIC CODES;57
5.23;A PARTING PROLOGUE: THE FUTURE HISTORY OF BIOSEMIOTICS;61
5.24;NOTES;65
5.25;WORKS CITED;68
6;CHAPTER 2 SEMIOSIS IN EVOLUTION;79
6.1;BIOSEMIOTICS FROM A PERSONAL POINT OF VIEW;79
6.2;CONCEPTUAL DEMARCATION;81
6.3;LIFE IN THE FRAMEWORK OF COSMOLOGY;83
6.4;EVOLUTIONARY SEMIOSIS;87
6.5;FUNDAMENTALS IN THE INTERPRETANT;91
6.6;THE CODES MAPPING SEMIOSIS;96
6.7;DOUBLE CODING;100
6.8;ASYMMETRIES IN BIOSEMIOSIS;102
6.9;REFERENCES;107
7;CHAPTER 3 HAS BIOSEMIOTICS COME OF AGE?*+ AND POSTSCRIPT+;111
7.1;INTRODUCTION;112
7.2;THE MAKING OF BIOSEMIOTICS;113
7.3;THE REDEPLOYMENT OF JAKOB VON UEXKÜLL;114
7.4;THE ENDORSEMENT OF A NON-MECHANISTIC BIOLOGY;116
7.5;THE BIOSEMIOTIC APPROACH TO MEANING;118
7.6;A MECHANISTIC APPROACH TO MEANING;119
7.7;CONCLUSION;121
7.8;POSTSCRIPT (AUGUST 2005);121
7.9;REFERENCES;122
8;CHAPTER 4 THE NECESSITY OF BIOSEMIOTICS: MATTER-SYMBOL COMPLEMENTARITY;124
8.1;LIFE DEPENDS ON SEMIOTIC CONTROLS;124
8.2;THE RELATION BETWEEN PHYSICAL LAWS AND CONTROL CONSTRAINTS;125
8.3;RATE-INDEPENDENT CONSTRAINTS; SYMBOL SYSTEMS;127
8.4;PHYSICAL LAWS CANNOT ADDRESS THIS QUESTION;127
8.5;THE EPISTEMIC PROCESS IN BIOLOGY;128
8.6;SYMBOLIC CONTROL IS NECESSARY FOR EVOLVABILITY;129
8.7;VON NEUMANN’S DESCRIPTION AND CONSTRUCTION;129
8.8;VON NEUMANN’S LOGIC OF SELF-REPLICATION;131
8.9;VON NEUMANN’S “MORE IMPORTANT” QUESTION;132
8.10;PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS FOR EFFICIENT MEMORY;133
8.11;PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS FOR CODING AND CONSTRUCTION;134
8.12;THE PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS FOR FOLDING AND FUNCTION;134
8.13;THE SEMIOTIC CLOSURE REQUIREMENT FOR “SELF”;135
8.14;EVOLUTION REQUIRES POPULATION DISTRIBUTIONS;136
8.15;REQUIREMENTS FOR EFFICIENT SEARCH AND SELECTION;137
8.16;ANALOGIES AND DISANALOGIES OF GENETICS WITH NATURAL LANGUAGE;138
8.17;NOTES;139
8.18;REFERENCES;139
9;CHAPTER 5 WHAT IS THE SCOPE OF BIOSEMIOTICS? INFORMATION IN LIVING SYSTEMS;142
9.1;INTRODUCTION;142
9.2;INFORMATION AND SEMIOSIS;143
9.3;INFORMATION AND HISTORY;144
9.4;REPRESENTATION IN DNA;145
9.5;THE ORIGIN OF LIFE;147
9.6;SUPRAGENETIC INFORMATION;148
9.7;CONCLUSION;154
9.8;ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS;154
9.9;NOTES;155
9.10;BIBLIOGRAPHY;155
9.11;APPENDIX;156
10;CHAPTER 6 SEMIOTIC SCAFFOLDING OF LIVING SYSTEMS.;158
10.1;LIFE AND MEASURING: BASICS OF A SEMIOTIC ONTOLOGY;158
10.2;THE SCAFFOLDING OF LIFE PROCESSES;161
10.3;THE CONCEPT OF SCAFFOLDING;163
10.4;SCAFFOLDING AND EMERGENCE;165
10.5;SPAM;167
10.6;ANTICIPATION AND BRAINS;169
10.7;SEMIOTICS AND RELATIVE BEING;171
10.8;NOTES;174
10.9;LITERATURE;175
11;CHAPTER 7 BIOSEMIOTICS AND BIOPHYSICS — THE FUNDAMENTAL APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF LIFE;176
11.1;THE DEVELOPMENT (OR SPECIATION) THAT HAS RESULTED IN BIOSEMIOTICS;176
11.2;SEMIOTICS AND PHYSICS;178
11.3;THE PRINCIPLE OF CODE PLURALITY;182
11.4;BIOSEMIOTICS AND BIOPHYSICS: INSTEAD OF CONCLUSION;183
11.5;ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS;184
11.6;NOTES;184
11.7;REFERENCES;185
12;CHAPTER 8 IS THE CELL A SEMIOTIC SYSTEM?;187
12.1;INTRODUCTION;188
12.2;PART 1 – SEMIOSIS AND THE ORIGIN OF LIFE;189
12.3;PART 2 – THE ORGANIC CODES;196
12.4;PART 3 – INFORMATION AND MEANING;203
12.5;PART 4 – THE MODELS OF BIOSEMIOTICS;208
12.6;REFERENCES;213
13;CHAPTER 9 COMPUTING CODES VERSUS INTERPRETING LIFE;216
13.1;1. INTERPRETING LIFE: LANGUAGE AS THE UNIVERSAL MEDIUM OF ORGANIC EXISTENCE;219
13.2;2. COMPUTING CODES: LANGUAGE AS AN ORGANIZATIONAL PRINCIPLE OF LIVING SYSTEMS;223
13.3;3. A MODEL-THEORETICAL DEFINITION OF ORGANIC CODES;227
13.4;ACKNOWLEDGEMENT;234
13.5;NOTES;234
13.6;REFERENCES;238
14;CHAPTER 10 TOWARDS A DARWINIAN BIOSEMIOTICS. LIFE AS MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING;241
14.1;INTRODUCTION;241
14.2;A HISTORICAL EXCURSION;243
14.3;BEING IN THE WORLD;246
14.4;SEMIOSPHERE;250
14.5;CORPOREALITY, LIFE, LANGUAGE;255
14.6;CONCLUSION;259
14.7;ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS;260
14.8;NOTES;260
14.9;REFERENCES;260
15;CHAPTER 11 FROM THE LOGIC OF SCIENCE TO THE LOGIC OF THE LIVING;262
15.1;1. BIOSEMIOTICS AND PEIRCE;262
15.2;2. HOW PEIRCE’S SEMEIOTIC CAN BE APPLIED IN METAPHYSICS AND BIOSEMIOTICS;268
15.3;3. HOW TO MAKE OUR IDEAS CLEAR — PRAGMATICISM;272
15.4;4. CONSEQUENCES OF PRAGMATICISM IN UNDERSTANDING PEIRCE;275
15.5;ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS;281
15.6;NOTES;282
15.7;BIBLIOGRAPHY;286
16;CHAPTER 12 TOWARDS A STANDARD TERMINOLOGY FOR (BIO)SEMIOTICS;288
16.1;INTRODUCTION;288
16.2;FORM AND REFERENT;289
16.3;MODELING SYSTEMS THEORY;296
16.4;CONCLUDING REMARKS;301
16.5;REFERENCES;301
17;CHAPTER 13 INFORMATION THEORY AND ERROR-CORRECTING CODES IN GENETICS AND BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION;304
17.1;1. INTRODUCTION;305
17.2;2. AN INTUITIVE OUTLINE OF INFORMATION THEORY AND ERROR-CORRECTING CODES;308
17.3;3. CONSERVING THE GENOME NEEDS ERROR CORRECTION;326
17.4;4. HOW GENOMIC ERROR-CORRECTING MEANS FIT IN WITH THE LIVING WORLD AND ITS EVOLUTION;335
17.5;5. GENOMIC ERROR-CORRECTING CODES AS ‘SOFT CODES’;339
17.6;6. IDENTIFICATION OF GENOMIC ERROR CORRECTION MEANS;342
17.7;7. ON THE EPISTEMOLOGICAL STATUS OF INFORMATION AND ITS RELATION TO SEMANTICS;345
17.8;8. CONCLUSION;348
17.9;NOTES;349
17.10;REFERENCES;349
18;CHAPTER 14 RNA AS CODE MAKERS: A BIOSEMIOTIC VIEW OF RNAi AND CELL IMMUNITY;351
18.1;INTRODUCTION;352
18.2;UNITY OF LIFE – CELL MAKING;357
18.3;UNITY OF LIFE – SELF-MAKING;359
18.4;UNITY OF LIFE – SENSE MAKING;361
18.5;CELL, SELF, SENSE – CONCLUSION AND RESEARCH PERSPECTIVES;365
18.6;REFERENCES;367
19;CHAPTER 15 CELLULAR SEMIOTICS AND SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION;369
19.1;1. INTRODUCTION;370
19.2;2. BIOLOGICAL INFORMATION BETWEEN LEVELS OF COMPLEXITY AND THE “INTEGRATIVE AGENDA”;373
19.3;3. THE SIGNALOME;375
19.4;4. TOWARDS AN INTEGRATIVE CONCEPT OF “BIOLOGICAL INFORMATION”;376
19.5;5. CELLULAR SEMIOTIC NETWORKS;378
19.6;6. SIGNALS THAT BUILD SIGNS: ZOOMING THE SYSTEM;381
19.7;7. MODULARITY;384
19.8;8. CROSS-TALK AND CATEGORIAL SENSING;386
19.9;9. DIGITAL-ANALOGICAL CONSENSUS;388
19.10;10. THE CA2+ CODE;391
19.11;11. WHY CATEGORIAL SENSING?;397
19.12;12. THE CA2+ CODE AS AN EXAMPLE OF CATEGORIAL SENSING;399
19.13;13. FURTHER SEMIOTIC CONSIDERATIONS IN METABOLIC CODES;403
19.14;14. FROM SYSTEMS BIOLOGY TO SYSTEMS OF CORRESPONDENCES;406
19.15;15. CONCLUSIONS AND FINAL REMARKS;407
19.16;NOTES;408
19.17;REFERENCES;410
20;CHAPTER 16 INNER REPRESENTATIONS AND SIGNS IN ANIMALS;412
20.1;INTRODUCTION;413
20.2;PART ONE: VERTEBRATES AND REPRESENTATION;416
20.3;PART TWO: INVERTEBRATES AND REPRESENTATION;423
20.4;CASE STUDY III: Representation of Prey in the Moon Jellyfish/Herring;425
20.5;FROM SIGNAL TO SIGN. THE EMOTIONAL WORM;437
20.6;PART THREE: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK;443
20.7;CONCLUSION;448
20.8;REFERENCES;452
21;CHAPTER 17 A BIOSEMIOTIC APPROACH TO EPIGENETICS: CONSTRUCTIVIST ASPECTS OF OOCYTE-TO-EMBRYO TRANSITION;459
21.1;INTRODUCTION;460
21.2;A GENERAL MODEL OF SEMIOSIS: THE SEMIOSIC MATRIX;461
21.3;APPLYING THE SEMIOSIC MATRIX TO THE OOCYTE-TO-EMBRYO TRANSITION;463
21.4;EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS FOLLOWING MAMMALIAN FERTILIZATION REVEAL BASIC PRINCIPLES OF CONSTRUCTIVIST EPISTEMOLOGY;466
21.5;DISCUSSION;470
21.6;ACKNOWLEDGMENTS;471
21.7;REFERENCES;471
22;CHAPTER 18 LANGUAGE AND INTERSPECIFIC COMMUNICATION EXPERIMENTS: A CASE TO RE-OPEN?;474
22.1;PROBLEMS AND THESES;474
22.2;A BRIEF HISTORY OF INTERSPECIFIC COMMUNICATION EXPERIMENTS;477
22.3;SEMIOTIC SCEPTICISM;484
22.4;THE CASE FOR ANTHROPOMORPHISM;487
22.5;FURTHER CRITICAL REMARKS ON THE ICE;490
22.6;THE ROLE OF THE SUBJECT IN ICE AND OTHER UNDERRATED ISSUES;500
22.7;CONCLUSION: A MARTINELLI’S CANON?;507
23;NOTES;515
24;REFERENCES;518
25;AUTHOR INDEX;520
26;SUBJECT INDEX;525