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2025 Vol. 16 №3

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Zolyan S. T.

Pragmatics beyond cognition: a perspective of Charles Peirce’s unfinished conception for (bio-)semiotics

DOI
10.5922/2225-5346-2025-3-7
Pages
98-116
non-cognizant semiotic agents Charles Peirce pragmatics sign interpreter interpretant sign as a quasi-mind semiopoiesis semiosis biosemiotics code biology

Abstract

The development of artificial intelligence and the new understanding of biomolecular processes for transmitting genetic information have emphasized the necessity to consider semiotic activity, that may operate autonomously from human cognition. In this regard, Charles Peirce’s latest conception of semiosis is of particular interest. For Peirce, semiosis is an interpretation that doesn't necessitate an external interpreter. A sign is viewed as a quasi-mind, and semiotic processes are carried out by these signs, specifically through the quasi-minds that are embedded within them: a quasi-utterer and a quasi-interpreter. Semiosis can thus be viewed as an ongoing, personalized interaction of structural semiotic entities (quasi-minds). The latest findings in molecular genetics and their implications in biosemiotics shed light on a unique aspect of interpretation: it can occur without an external interpreter owing to its mechanism of self-organization. By studying communication and information processes at the biomolecular level, we can redefine pragmatics as operations intricately linked with systemic self-regulation and interaction with the environment.

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