A process philosophy of signs / James Williams.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Williams, James, 1965- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Semiotics.

Signs and symbols--Philosophy.

Signs and symbols.

Signs and symbols--Political aspects.

Process philosophy.

Physical Description:

viii, 199 pages ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press, [2016]

Summary:

What is a sign? We usually think that it is a fixed relation, for instance, when a red light signifies 'Stop'. This book claims signs should instead be thought of as varying processes - Should I stop? Signs are occasions for creative responses rather than legitimate actions. James Williams develops this new process philosophy of signs through a formal model, in contrast to earlier structuralist definitions. He draws on the philosophies of Deleuze and Whitehead, criticises earlier work on the sign in biology by Jakob von Uexküll, and connects to contemporary work on process in the philosophy of biology by John Dupré. The process model has wide applications in the arts, humanities and social sciences, and informs their critical debates with science. In defining the sign as essentially political, this radical definition of the sign opens up new possibilities for social and political critique. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Introduction: The Process Sign 1

2 The Independent Life of Signs 12

3 Biology and the Design of Signs 36

4 Process Signs and the Process Philosophy of Biology 62

5 The Sign 75

6 The Process Sign, Structuralism and Semiology 97

7 The Process Sign After Deleuze and Whitehead 122

8 The Process Sign is Political 153

9 Conclusion 169.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 173-192) and index.

ISBN:

0748695001

9780748695003

9780748695010

074869501X

OCLC:

920729716