If one considers that the conservation rules of chemistry ensure the
preservation of symbolic meanings in hierarchies, then I fail to see the
logic basis of your conclusion.
The preservation of chemical identity is intrinsic to the construction of
chemical hierarchies and to the composition of living systems from
nutrients. In what sense should meaning extend beyond the essence of matter
and dynamics?
Dear Jerry, John, and colleagues,
In my opinion, Jerry brings here precisely to the point what has remained an
open question in our discussion. Meaning has to preserved in hierarchies at
the chemical and biological level. In discourse, meaning can be
deconstructed and reconstructed, and therefore is at variance. The question
then is: how much is it constrained by historical contingencies?
Let us first consider the psychological level. Is the Cogito part of the
phase space? This has been a subject of intense philosophical discussion
(mind/body problem, determination/free will, etc.). Obviously, the Cogito is
constrained and the space for variation in providing psychological meaning
to events (information) is limited. However, the intersubjectivity among
Cogitantes--that which Husserl calls the Cogitatum--does no longer have to
be constrained. The depends on its organization.
The hierarchical organization of society is associated in the sociological
literature with the high cultures like the Holy Roman Empire. The breaking
of this order is considered as modernization. Luther's call to provide the
Bible with new meaning by private reading can be considered symbolic for
this. The printing press, etc., then also allowed for new meaning to be
codified, that is, temporarily fixed but open for de- and reconstruction.
The social system seems a system that has to remain on this borderline
between fixing meanings and reconstructing them. The fixing is needed for us
(as contingencies) and for us to live in institutions, but not intrinsic to
the operation.
It seems to me that if meaning can be a source of variance, it can no longer
be considered as fixed.
With best wishes,
Loet
_____
Loet Leydesdorff
Amsterdam School of Communications Research (ASCoR)
Kloveniersburgwal 48, 1012 CX Amsterdam
Tel.: +31-20- 525 6598; fax: +31-20- 525 3681
<mailto:loet@leydesdorff.net> loet@leydesdorff.net ;
<http://www.leydesdorff.net/> http://www.leydesdorff.net/
<http://www.leydesdorff.net/knbecon> The
Knowledge-Based Economy: Modeled,
Measured, and Simulated
<http://www.universal-publishers.com/book.php?method=ISBN&book=1581126956>
The Self-Organization of the Knowledge-Based Society;
<http://www.universal-publishers.com/book.php?method=ISBN&book=1581126816>
The Challenge of Scientometrics
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Received on Tue Feb 7 10:00:15 2006
