Abstract
Drawing on research in posthumanism, science and technology studies and biosemiotics, this essay analyses the challenges epigenetic processes pose for our understanding of embodied subjectivity. It uses the work of Charles Sanders Peirce to argue that epigenetic processes are indexical in their patterned logic, that they are meaning-making processes and that, consequently, they can be conceived as a form of attention. To conceive of bodies as paying attention through epigenetic processes is to rupture the distinction between matter and meaning that governs many philosophical categories. This in turn invites us to recalibrate our conception of the relationship between self, body and world.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 3-34 |
Number of pages | 32 |
Journal | Body and Society |
Volume | 26 |
Issue number | 4 |
Early online date | Nov 17 2020 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 2020 |
Keywords
- Agamben
- biopolitics
- biosemiotics
- enactivism
- epigenetics
- new materialisms
- subjectivity
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Psychology
- Health(social science)
- Cultural Studies