Basic semiosis as code-based control

Abstract

Though the formal coherence and empirical utility of Marcello Barbieri's concept of organic code have been starting to become established, a general conception of how the semantics of organic codes is related to the pragmatics of their use is still missing. Barbieri took a first step towards such a conception by distinguishing three types of semiosis in living systems: manufacturing, signalling, and interpretive semiosis. This paper integrates Barbieri's distinction into Roman Jakobson's systematization of possible functions of messages in order to propose a general conception of possible types of semiosis in living systems. As a result, Barbieri's thesis that manufacturing and signalling semiosis are basic types of semiosis, can be confirmed and completed communication-theoretically. © 2008 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.