A Biosemiotic Ontology: The Philosophy of Giorgio Prodi

Author:   Felice Cimatti
Publisher:   Springer International Publishing AG
Edition:   1st ed. 2018
Volume:   18
ISBN:  

9783319979021


Pages:   159
Publication Date:   23 November 2018
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
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A Biosemiotic Ontology: The Philosophy of Giorgio Prodi


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Overview

Giorgio Prodi (1928-1987) was an important Italian scientist who developed an original philosophy based on two basic assumptions: 1. life is mainly a semiotic phenomenon; 2. matter is somewhat a semiotic phenomenon. Prodi applies Peirce's cenopythagorean categories to all phenomena of life and matter: Firstness, Secondness, and Thirdness. They are interconnected meaning that the very ontology of the world, according to Prodi, is somewhat semiotic. In fact, when one describes matter as “made of” Firstness and Secondness, this means that matter ‘intrinsically’ implies semiotics (with Thirdness also being present in the world). At the very heart of Prodi’s theory lies a metaphysical hypothesis which is an ambitious theoretical gesture that places Prodi in an awkward position with respect to the customary philosophical tradition. In fact, his own ontology is neither dualistic nor monistic. Such a conclusion is unusual and weird, but much less unusual in present time than itwas when it was first introduced. The actual resurgence of various “realisms” make Prodi’s semiotic realism much more interesting than when he first proposed his philosophical approach. What is uncommon, in Prodi perspective, is that he never separated semiotics from the materiality of the world. Prodi does not agree with the “standard” structuralist view of semiosis as an artificial and unnatural activity. On the contrary, Prodi believed semiosis (that is, the interconnection between Firstness, Secondness and Thirdness) lies at the very bottom of life. On one hand, Prodi maintains a strong realist stance; on the other, a realism that includes semiosis as ‘natural’ phenomena. This last view is very unusual because all forms, more or less, of realism exclude semiosis from nature but they frequently “reduce” semiosis to non-semiotic elements. According to Prodi, semiosis is a completely natural phenomenon.

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Author:   Felice Cimatti
Publisher:   Springer International Publishing AG
Imprint:   Springer International Publishing AG
Edition:   1st ed. 2018
Volume:   18
Weight:   0.474kg
ISBN:  

9783319979021


ISBN 10:   3319979027
Pages:   159
Publication Date:   23 November 2018
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1.  Introduction.- Chapter 2. Life.- Chapter 3. Scientist because Philosopher, Philosopher because Scientist.- Chapter 4. The Line and the Circle.- Chapter 5. The Biological Model: for an anti-Cartesian semiotics.- Chapter 6. Of the Complementarity of the Sign.- Chapter 7. The Origin of Language.- Chapter 8. Attention and Consciousness.- Chapter 9. Breaking the Circle.- Chapter 10. Language and Ethics.- Chapter 11. The “Darkness” Between Aesthetics and the Sacred.- Chapter 12. Conclusion: Prodi and Italian Thought.

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Felice Cimatti is an Italian philosopher and semiotician. Giorgio Prodi was an Italian well-known medical scientist, philosopher, and semiotician. Prodi was - together with Thomas Sebeok and Thure von Uexküll - one of co-founders of contemporary biosemiotics.  

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