Review of Andrew Stables: Be(com)ing Human: Semiosis and the Myth of Reason

Abstract

The Western tradition has its two principal sources: the ethical monotheism of the ancient Hebrews and the Greeks who broke with the myth-making, religious orientation and created the rational humanist perspective that later grew into the Enlightenment reason as the project of modernity. The interrogation of analytic reason is Andrew Stables’ main task in his book Be(com)ing Human: Semiosis and the Myth of Reason (2012). This is coupled with a thorough investigation of the moral dimension and various ‘‘conceptions of the Good’’ (p. 113) as they relate to the philosophy of education. Already in the Preface, Stables lays down his challenge to one of the major premises of contemporary educational theory that still relies mainly on Aristotle’s philosophy: education during childhood as just a preparation for adulthood marked by stable, mature, identity—a fixed state of being. Claiming that such a premise is totally unsound, Stables prioritizes process over product and argues that childhood is simultaneously a time of being and becoming; while adulthood represents a time of change as well as stability (p. vii). He offers alternative theoretical foundations elucidated in the very first chapter, which is titled, appropriately, Theoretical Foundations: Semiotics, Process and the Language Game (p. 1). Each of the five chapters represents a relatively autonomous essay with its own bibliography, but Stables diligently uses multiple cross-references by going back and forth between chapters and unfolding his conceptualizations from ever new angles and in the variety of contexts so as to help readers to navigate the text. The book thus represents a complex whole—just like the process of semiosis per se, the basic concept in Stables’ book. As Stables explains, semiosis—a process of signs’ growth and change—is fundamental (p. 35). The term semiosis derives from the Greek rglei 9xri1, sēmeiōsis, a derivation, in turn, of the verb sēmeio meaning ‘‘to mark’’. The word semiotics relates to the Greek words for sign and signal. As the study of both verbal and non-verbal signs, and their signification or meaning, semiotics transcends linguistics. Signs can be polysemic, that is, they may