The Difference That Makes a Difference: Derrida, Peirce and Biosemiotics

Abstract

In Of Grammatology Derrida called upon Charles Sanders Peirce as a partial ally in his ‘deconstruction of the transcendental signifier’. Here Derridean thought and biodeconstruction are brought into a comparative relation with contemporary Peircean biosemiotic theory. The discussion examines an intertwining of philosophical currents and trajectories that run through both Peirce and the philosophical hinterland of biosemiotics. What can be seen to emerge here is an evolution or transformation from idealism (the legacies of Hegel and Kant in Peirce and biosemiotic thought, respectively) to a novel configuration of relational realism. This configuration is, in turn, thought alongside Derridean notions of différance, arche-writing and generalized textuality. A productive dialogue is opened up between biodeconstruction and biosemiotics. The latter can be shown to complement the former, offering a realist, post-metaphysical theoretical framework and methodology for biology that has the potential to inform the activity and research of working biologists.