Metaphysical grounds of universal semiosis

Abstract

In the history of American philosophy there is a strand of thinking about signs in nature. Animals, insects, trees, flowers, the weather, landscapes, and the starry night are all found expressive of diverse meanings. Moreover, these natural phenomena are taken to possess a representational character at their ontological core by such thinkers as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Charles S. Peirce. My presentation builds upon this tradition by exploring the semiosis of nature in its fullest scope and with regard to its fundamental being. Its aim is to uncover some metaphysical grounds that would support universal semiosis, as well as argue for the primacy of an aesthetic dimension at the core of semiosic activity.