Semiosis and nāmarūpa: Exploring the Early Buddhist Theory of Signs Through Cognitive Semiotics
Philosophies August 27, 2025 DOI: 10.3390/philosophies10040093 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Buddhism |
| Keywords | Semiosis Semiotics Buddhist meditation |
| Citations | 2 |
| Key points | Proposes that the Buddhist concept of nāmarūpa represents the semiosic process from which contemplative practice aims to liberate practitioners. |
Abstract
This article aims to offer a comparative analysis between Buddhist thought and Peircean semiotics, situating the discussion within the framework of a Buddhist theory of signs that addresses aspects related to perceptual processes and cognitive experience. The influence of signs on cognition is what led Buddhism, from its earliest formulations, to adopt contemplative practice as a means of liberation from the effects of semiosis—an aspect that this paper hypothesizes to be represented by the nāmarūpa dyad. Following an examination of the perceptual and sensory processes underlying the functioning of nāmarūpa, the paper will analyze occurrences of this technical term and propose its semiosic functions, subsequently exploring how contemplative practice aspires to disengage from the power of signs.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on buddhism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mental balance and well-being: Building bridges between Buddhism and Western psychology. | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Buddhist Modernism and the Rhetoric of Meditative Experience | 1995 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Buddhist and Psychological Perspectives on Emotions and Well-Being | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Too Early to Tell: The Potential Impact and Challenges—Ethical and Otherwise—Inherent in the Mainstreaming of Dharma in an Increasingly Dystopian World | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From self to nonself: The Nonself Theory | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 3
- Pansemioticism and Cognition: On the Semiotic Anthropology of Early Buddhism Meditation Humans January 14, 2026
- Meditation Transcending Signs: Seven Concepts for a Buddhist Psychosemiotics Philosophies January 12, 2026
- Filling in the Blanks: The Material Semiotics of Visual Meditation in the Buddhist Qizil Yoga Manual Religions July 28, 2026
Cites 6
- Designing, Prototyping and Evaluating Digital Mindfulness Applications: A Case Study of Mindful Breathing for Stress Reduction Journal of Medical Internet Research June 14, 2017
- Language and Consciousness in Early Buddhist Thought: On the Early Reflections on the Theme of Language and the Perception of Reality in the Pāli Canon Philosophies April 25, 2025
- Beyond semiosis: early Buddhist phenomenology and theory of consciousness Cogent Arts and Humanities July 16, 2025
- The dawn of division: For an anthropological theory of consciousness through contemplative ethnography Anthropology of Consciousness January 12, 2025
- Gates of Consciousness: Buddhist Phenomenology of Cognition in the Abhidhamma Philosophies June 10, 2025
and 1 more in the library