The Geoethical Semiosis of the Anthropocene: The Peircean Triad for a Reconceptualization of the Relationship between Human Beings and Environment

Abstract

This article seeks to reconcile, as well as operationalize, two different methodological approaches on the basis of some important basic affinities: geoethics and Peircean semiotics. For this purpose, Peirce’s triangle is conceived as a “translator mechanism” to parse the human–planet relationship that cannot be dealt with through actions in pairs but must be considered as a triadic relationship in which geoethics comes into play to develop a new relationship between human beings and environment. Following this, the triangle heuristic will employ the vertices Geoethics–Illness of the Earth–Society as a metaphor of the Anthropocene era through the lens of Peircean semiotics. This triangle method will help investigate some research questions: (1) Is planet illness an icon, index, or a symbol of the negative impact of the society? (2) When do we encounter environmental phenomena constituting images of planet illness? (3) What is the salient perspective from which to study the phenomenon of the Anthropocene? In discussing these issues, the authors call into play the concept of noosphere and propose a new ethical framework guiding human behavior toward the environment.

基于重要和基本的相同点, 本文实现了两种不同方法论的结合：地理伦理学和皮尔士符号学。皮尔士三角形是解析人地关系的“翻译机制”。人地关系不能简单地通过人类和地球二者的行为来对待, 而必须把人地关系三元化, 其中的地理伦理学能建立人类和环境的新型关系。因此, 通过皮尔士符号学, 皮尔士三角形将地理伦理-地球问题-社会三个点做为人类世隐喻。该三角形方法允许我们探讨以下问题：（1）地球问题是社会负面影响的标识、索引还是表象？（2）我们何时会遇到产生地球问题表象的环境问题？（3）研究人类世现象的最重要观念是什么？在讨论这些问题时, 作者号召发挥智能圈概念的作用, 提出了一个新的伦理框架, 指导人类对环境的行为。

Este artículo busca reconciliar, lo mismo que operacionalizar, dos enfoques metodológicos diferentes a partir de algunas afinidades básicas importantes: la geoética y la semiótica peirceana. Para ese propósito, el triángulo de Peirce se concibe como un “mecanismo traductor” para analizar sintácticamente la relación humanidad–planeta, que no puede ser manipulada a través de acciones en pares, sino que debe considerarse como una relación triádica en la que la geoética toma posición para desarrollar una nueva relación entre los seres humanos y el medio ambiente. Siguiendo con esto, la heurística del triángulo empleará los vértices Geoética–Enfermedad de la Tierra–Sociedad como una metáfora de la era del Antropoceno a través de la lente de la semiótica peirceana. Este método del triángulo ayudará a enfrentar algunas preguntas de investigación: (1) ¿Es la enfermedad del planeta un icono, un índice, o un símbolo del impacto negativo de la sociedad? (2) ¿Cuándo podemos hallar fenómenos ambientales que se constituyan en imágenes de la enfermedad del planeta? (3) Cuál es la perspectiva saliente a partir de la cual estudiar el fenómeno del Antropoceno? Discutiendo estos asuntos, los autores traen a cuento el concepto de la noósfera y proponen un nuevo marco ético que guía la conducta humana hacia el entorno ambiental.

Key Words:

• Anthropocene
• geoethics
• Hippocratic triangle
• noosphere
• Peirce’s semiotics

关键词:

• 人类世
• 地理伦理学
• 希波克拉底三角形
• 智能圈
• 皮尔士符号学。

Palabras clave:

• Antropoceno
• geoética
• noósfera
• semiótica de Peirce. triángulo hipocrático

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Dr. Kasia Mika, Dr. Ian Robinson, and Dr. Charles Travis for the language review. The research article is the result of work shared by both authors. Specifically, Valeria Dattilo is the author of the first two sections and Francesco De Pascale is the author of the next three sections. Conclusions are attributable to both authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Francesco De Pascale

FRANCESCO DE PASCALE is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow of the Research Institute for Geo-Hydrological Protection of the Italian National Research Council (CNR-IRPI), Rende 87036, Italy. E-mail: [email protected]. He holds a PhD in Geography and Earth Sciences from the University of Calabria after defending a thesis that was recognized by the International Association for Promoting Geoethics as “the first Ph.D. thesis that deals specifically with geoethics.”

Valeria Dattilo

VALERIA DATTILO is Teaching Assistant of Semiotics and Philosophy of Language at the Department of Humanities at the University of Calabria, Arcavacata di Rende (CS), 87036, Italy. E-mail: [email protected]. She holds a PhD in philosophy of communication and entertainment, theory, and history of languages from the University of Calabria.