Origins of Mind

The big question of how and why mindedness evolved necessitates collaborative,multidisciplinary investigation. Biosemiotics provides a new conceptual space that attracts amultitude of thinkers in the biological and cognitive sciences and the humanities whorecognize continuity in the biosphere from the simplest to the most complex organisms, andwho are united in the project of trying to account for even language and human consciousnessin this comprehensive picture of life. The young interdiscipline of biosemiotics has so far byand large focused on codes, signs and sign processes in the microworld—a fact that reflectsthe field’s strong representation in microbiology and embryology. What philosophers of mindand cognitive scientists can contribute to the growing interdiscipline are insights into how thebiosemiotic weltanschauung applies to complex organisms like humans where such signs andsign processes constitute human society and culture.