On 18 August at 11:15 James Augustus Bacigalupi IV will defend his doctoral thesis “A Biosemiotic Theory of Semiogenesis: Building a Testable Hypothesis for Normative Self-regulation” for obtaining the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (in Semiotics and Culture Studies).
Supervisors:
Professor Kalevi Kull, University of Tartu
Associate Professor Donald Francis Favareau, National University of Singapore (Singapore)
Opponent:
Professor Emeritus Yagmur Denizhan, Bogazici University (Turkey)
Summary
This dissertation is motivated by a central question: how is creative meaning-making and value generation possible in living systems? It examines the simplest processes that enable the formation of meaning in living systems, or semiogenesis. It shows what needs to be added to the cybernetic model of self-regulation in order for semiotic processes to arise.
A schematic design for a novel technology, and a theory to test it, has been developed to empirically show how and under what conditions elementary meaning structures and individuation can emerge in a dynamic nodal network through resonance and superposition. This model of semiogenesis is compatible with several different classical models of meaning creation – the models of Charles Peirce, Jakob von Uexküll, Juri Lotman and Gilbert Simondon. Thus, it is shown how the biosemiotic model allows these theories to be connected.
The defence can also be followed via Zoom (meeting ID: 913 8257 3421, passcode: 970244).
