Feeling the signs: The origins of meaning in the biological philosophy of Susanne K. Langer and Hans Jonas

This paper examines the semiotic approach to organism in the work of Susanne K. Langer and Hans Jonas, two proto-biosemiotic thinkers. Both independently develop the concept of "feeling" as a value-based perspective arising from an organic system's active self-interest. They describe the organism as a subject and a closed circular self that creates meaning and value. Their ideas align with Francisco Varela's later interpretation of autopoiesis, specifically embodied cognition or "enactivism." The authors suggest that synthesizing these positions could illuminate how symbolic expression emerges from biological conditions of life.

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Abstract

This paper describes the semiotic approach to organism in two proto-biosemiotic thinkers, Susanne K. Langer and Hans Jonas. Both authors develop ideas that have become central terms of biosemiotics: the organism as subject, the realisation of the living as a closed circular self, the value concept, and, in the case of Langer, the concept of symbol. Langer tries to develop a theory of cultural symbolism based on a theory of organism as a self-realising entity creating meaning and value. This paper deals mainly with what both authors independently call “feeling”. Both authors describe “feeling” as a value-based perspective, established as a result of the active self interest manifested by an organic system. The findings of Jonas and Langer show the generation of a subject pole, or biosemiotic agent, under a more precise accent, as e.g. Uexküll does. Their ideas can also be affiliated to the interpretation of autopoiesis given by the late Francisco Varela (embodied cognition or “enactivism”). A synthesis of these positions might lead to insights how symbolic expression arises from biological conditions of living.