Abstract
In this paper, I present an argument that quantitative behavioural analysis can be used in zoosemiotic studies to advance the field of biosemiotics. The premise is that signs and signals form patterns in space and time, which can be measured and analysed mathematically. Whole organism sign processing is an important component of the semiosphere, with individual organisms in their Umwelten deriving signs from, and contributing to, the semiosphere, and vice versa. Moreover, there is a wealth of data available in the traditional ethology literature which can be reinterpreted semiotically and drawn together to make a cohesive biosemiotic whole. For example, isolated signals, such as structural elements of birdsong, are attributed meaning by an interpreter, thus generating new ideas and hypotheses in both biology and semiotics. Furthermore, animal behaviour science has developed numerous test paradigms that with careful adaptation, could be suitable for use within a Peircean tripartite model, and thus give valuable insights into Umwelten of other species. In my conclusion, I suggest that by bringing together traditional ethology and biosemiotics, it is possible to use the Modern Synthesis to provide context to biosemiosis, thus pragmatic meaning to animal signals. On this basis, I propose updating the Modern Synthesis to a Semiotic Modern Synthesis, which focuses on whole-organism signals and their contexts, the latter being derived from neo-Darwinian theory and the ‘Umwelt’. Thus, there need be no dichotomy; the Modern Synthesis can successfully be integrated with biosemiotics.
Highlights
In recent years, evidence for an updated Modern Synthesis, in the form of an ‘Extended Synthesis’ has mounted (Noble, 2021), and Evolutionary and Developmental Biology (Evo-Devo) is a growing field which focusses on the influence of the environment on embryonic development and the genome (Hall, 2012)
To achieve this, existing quantitative scientific methodologies in both ethology and animal welfare can be developed, and biosemiotic frameworks can be used to answer Tinbergen’s ‘Four Questions’(Tinbergen, 1963) which provide a key framework in ethology
The results of the study do not support Morton’s Motivational- Structural Rules theory in avian taxa
Summary
Evidence for an updated Modern Synthesis, in the form of an ‘Extended Synthesis’ has mounted (Noble, 2021), and Evolutionary and Developmental Biology (Evo-Devo) is a growing field which focusses on the influence of the environment on embryonic development and the genome (Hall, 2012). The aim of this paper is to include ethology and behavioural ecology by bringing together von Uexküll’s ‘Umwelt Theory’ and Peirce’s tripartite semiotic model with the Modern Synthesis. To achieve this, existing quantitative scientific methodologies in both ethology and animal welfare can be developed, and biosemiotic frameworks can be used to answer Tinbergen’s ‘Four Questions’(Tinbergen, 1963) which provide a key framework in ethology. Tinbergen’s questions can be answered from Thomas Sebeok’s zoosemiotic perspective by using Peircean semiotics is an intermediary tool to explore the Umwelten and Innenwelten of other species, which in turn provide the context in which behaviours take place. I suggest using existing peer- reviewed data from the neo-Darwinian literature as a basis for zoosemiotic studies, as a wealth of data exists which can be assembled to explore the ‘meaning’ signs and social signals for other species
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