Batteri, animali, uomini

Abstract

The article sketches a semiotic philosophy of action through comparing three different species and their ways to manage motility: bacteria, non-linguistic animals, and human beings. The article claims that all living species share the common requirement of having to determine a course of action in a polarized universe. At the same time, it also argues that results of such determination are as incommensurable as the innate cognitive devices through which the three species deal with such polarity. Whereas bacteria have no access to potentiality, and non-linguistic animals have a limited access to it, human beings can construct infinite simulacra of potential courses of action. Human beings’ need to choose among infinite potentialities, the article concludes, grounds both their intrinsic liberty and their irredeemable responsibility.