Abstract
Living systems are characterized by unique properties that make them resistant to the ``information-processingperspective'' of traditional cognitive science.This paper details those unique properties andoffers a new theoretical framework forunderstanding the behavior of living systems.This framework leans heavily on ideas fromgeneral systems theory (specifically Bateson'sinteractionist perspective), semiotics, andMerleau-Ponty's phenomenology. The benefits ofusing this framework are illustrated withexamples from two different domains: immunologyand verbal interaction.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Bateson, G.: 2000, Steps to an Ecology of Mind. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Cohen, I.R.: 1994, Kadishman's Tree, Escher's Angels, and the Immunological Homunculus. In A. Coutinho and M. D. Kazatchkine (eds.), Autoimmunity: Physiology and Disease. Wiley-Liss, Inc., 7–18.
Cohen, I.R.: 2000, Tending Adam's Garden: Evolving the Cognitive Immune Self. New York: Academic Press.
Cohen, I.R.: 2001, The Creation of Immune Specificity. In L.A. Segel and I.R. Cohen (eds.), Design Principles for the Immune System and other Distributed Autonomous Systems. A volume in the Santa Fe Institute Studies in the Sciences of Complexity. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Colapietro, V.M. (ed.): 1993, Glossary of Semiotics. New York: Paragon House.
Danesi, M.: 2001, Layering Theory and Human Abstract Thinking. Cybernetics and Human Knowing 8: 5–25. [Special issue: New Directions in Cybersemiotics.]
Dupuy, J.P.: 2000, The Mechanization of the Mind. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Dupuy, J.P. and F. Varela: 1992, Understanding Origins: An Introduction. In F. Varela and J.P. Dupuy (eds.), Understanding Origins. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1–27.
Engelberg, J.: 2001, On the Two-Dimensional Nature of Human Organism. Unpublished manuscript. Office of Integrative Studies, University of Kentucky College of Medicine.
Harries-Jones, P.: 1995, A Recursive Vision: Ecological Understanding and Gregory Bateson. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Harries-Jones, P.: 2002, Where Bonds Become Binds: The Necessity for Bateson's Interactive Perspective in Biosemiotics. Sign Systems Studies 30: 163–181.
Harries-Jones,P.: in press, Re-Generating Environment: The Logic of Moving Boundaries. In J.-G. Vaillancourt and P. Hamel (eds.), Re-Embedding the Economy in Nature and Society: A Polanyian Approach to the Environment Montreal: Black Rose Books.
Jenny, H.: 1974, Kymatik. Basel: Bislius Presse.
Kempe, B.: 1886, A Memoir on the Theory of Mathematical Form. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 177: 1–70.
Maturana, H., J. Mpodozis and J.C. Letelier: 1995, Brain, Language and the Origin of Human Mental Functions. Biological Research 28: 15–26.
Merleau-Ponty, M.: 1962, Phenomenology of Perception. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
McCarthy, J. and S. Buvac: 1997, Formalizing Context. In A. Aliseda, R. van Glabbeek and D. Westerstahl (eds.), Computing Natural Language. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 13–50.
Neuman, Y.: 2001, Existing as a ‘Difference that Makes a Difference': On Cybernetics, Semiotics and Being. Cybernetics and Human Knowing 8: 25–35. [Special issue: New Directions in Cybersemiotics.]
Neuman, Y.: 2002, A Co-Generic Perspective for Problems Involving a Shift Between Systems’ Different Levels of Analysis. International Journal of General Systems 31: 111–119.
Neuman, Y.: 2003, Co-Generic Logic as a Theoretical Framework for the Analysis of Communication in Living Systems. Semiotica 144: 49–65.
Neuman, Y.: in press a, Turtles All the Way Down: Outlines for a Dynamic Theory of Epistemology. Systems Research and Behavioral Science.
Neuman, Y.: in press b, Processes and Boundaries of the Mind: Extending the Limit Line. Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers [The Contemporary Systems Thinking Series].
Polanyi, M.: 1968, Life's Irreducible Structure. Science 160: 1308–1312.
Sebeok, T.A. (ed.).: 1984, Encyclopedic Dictionary of Semiotics. Berlin: de Gruyter.
Sebeok, T.A. and M. Danesi: 2000, Forms of Meaning. Berlin: de Gruyter.
Shanon, B.: 1991, Representation–Senses and Reason. Philosophical Psychology 4: 355–374.
Shukman, A. (ed.).: 1983, Bakhtin School Papers. Oxford: RPT Publications.
Spencer-Brown, G.: 1994, Laws of Form. Portland, OR: Cognizer.
Varela, F.: 1992, Whence Perceptual Meaning? A Cartography of Current Ideas. In F. Varela and J.P. Dupuy (eds.), Understanding Origins. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 235–265.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Neuman, Y. How Deep is the Surface? A Theoretical Framework for Understanding Meaning-Making in Living Systems. Foundations of Science 8, 393–415 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026371128677
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026371128677