Biosemiotics as a Biological Theory
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.48160/18532330me14.364Keywords:
biosemiotics, biological theories, code duality, organic interpretation, genetics, evolutionAbstract
Contemporary biosemiotics is multi-faceted, or plural (to employ a more current term). Indeed, it has been depicted as an inter- or even a transdisciplinary field, which turns the issue of its relationship with biology into a very relevant question. This problem can be approached from a theoretical, historical, or sociological perspective. However, based on its unclear disciplinary status and the contrived character of some theses to which it has been related, it is necessary to analyze whether biosemiotics is a new biological theory, an application of semiotics to biology (something similar to disciplines such as biophysics, biochemistry, biostatistics, etc.), or rather a philosophical proposal. To answer some of these questions, this paper deals mainly with theoretical issues to analyze two central biosemiotic theses (code-duality and organic interpretation), their consequences for today’s biology, and their relationships with other biological theories. After this examination, the conclusion is advanced that even though biosemiotics, construed in broad terms, has some connections with disciplines beyond biology, such as semiotics and philosophy, strictly speaking, it is a new biological theory that articulates an original approach to living beings and to biological processes.
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