Is semiosis an emergent process: synchronic and holistic, or diachronic and transformational?

Abstract

Emergence is associated with irreducibility and unpredictability, indicating that the properties of a system cannot be deduced from its parts. Within the framework of C.S. Peirce's philosophy of the sign, the concept of emergence provides insights into how semiotic processes are constituted by material interactions among organisms, artifacts, and environments, while still exhibiting unique properties. Emergence can be diachronic, where a base domain transforms into an emergent domain over time, or synchronic, where bases and emergents coexist temporally with distinct qualitative properties. It can be weak, offering an epistemological explanation of phenomena, or strong, implying a new ontology. In processual emergentism, relationships and organizations take precedence over substances. Peirce's description of phenomena as triadic relations aligns precisely with this perspective, emphasizing the complexity and dynamism of semiosis. The non-linear process of meaning-making suggests that the meaning of a sign is continuously shaped by intricate interweavings of past and future interactions, generalized in the form of habits and anticipations.