From semiosis to semioethics

Abstract

Rights have their roots in responsibility. This essay addresses the question of where in nature does responsibility enter into the interactions among finite beings. My argument is that the answer lies in the metasemiosis whereby human beings, in contrast to alloanimals (and indeed to living and nonliving nature as a whole), are able to become aware of the relations themselves on which semiosis depends, and thereby to attain a realization of the consequences of our behavior not only within human society but also on the larger surroundings both biological and physical. It is from this species-specifically unique understanding of semiosis in its underlying relational being that responsibility arises as itself a species-specifically human phenomenon. As a result, whatever rights there are exist only as corollary to the responsibility that human animals must take for the consequences of human actions beyond as well as within the cultural realm.