Semiosis and Catastrophes: René Thom’s Semiotic Heritage (European Semiotics / Sémiotiques Européennes)

The French mathematician René Thom (Fields medal 1958) died in 2002. In this volume his contributions to biology, semiotics and linguistics are discussed by a group of scholars who have continued his work and have shaped the new paradigm of dynamic semiotics and linguistics. Thom’s heritage is full of revolutionary ideas and deep insights which stem from a rich intuition and a sharp awareness of the current state of the sciences, including their potentials and risks. The contributions to this volume are elaborations of papers given at a colloquium at the International Center for Semiotics and Linguistics of the University of Urbino (Italy), in 2005. The central concern of this volume is semiogenesis, i.e. the evolution and differentiation of meaningful («pregnant») forms in the field of symbolic systems – from bio-communication to language and cultural forms like music, art, architecture or urban forms. The basic questions are: How are meanings created and further differentiated? Where do they come from? What kind of forces drive their unfolding? How can complex cultural forms be understood based on simple morphodynamic principles? Applications concern the perception of forms by animals and humans, the categorization of forms e.g. in a lexicon, and predication or other complex symbolic behaviors which show up in grammar or in cultural artifacts like the unfolding of urban centers. Contents WOLFGANG WILDGEN Introduction 9 Part One: Papers in English MARC CHAPERON Catastrophes. A testimony 23 SVEND ØSTERGAARD René Thom: The Recognition of Forms. An Apologia for Realism 35 PEER F. BUNDGAARD AND FREDERIK STJERNFELT René Thom’s Semiotics and Its Sources 43 WOLFGANG WILDGEN Thom’s Theory of “Saillance” and “Prégnance” and Modern Evolutionary Linguistics 79 ISABEL MARCOS Urban Universals 101 ÁNGEL LÓPEZ-GARCÍA Catastrophes: What are we talking about? 127 Part Two: Papers in French / Contributions en Français JEAN PETITOT “Le hiatus entre le logique et le morphologique”. Prédication et Perception 141 PER AAGE BRANDT René Thom – Prégnances et catastrophes. Pour une phénoménologie sémio-cognitive 167 Contributors 183 Papers in English: catastrophes. a testimony / Marc Chaperon René Thom: the recognition of forms. an apologia for realism / Svend Ostergaard René Thom's semiotics and its sources / Peer F. Bundgaard and Frederik Stiernfelt Thom's theory of saillance and prégnance and modern evolutionary linguistics / Wolfgang Wildgen Urban Universals / Isabel Marcos Catastrophes: What are we talking about? / Ángel L"Pez-Garcia Part Two: Papers in French / Contributions en Français: Le hiatus entre le logique et le morphologique. Prédication et Perception / Jean Petitot René Thom Prégnances et catastrophes. Pour une phénoménologie sémio-cognitive / Per Aage Brandt. How are meanings created and further differentiated? Where do they come from? What kind of forces drive their unfolding? How can complex cultural forms be understood based on simple morphodynamic principles? This book deals with these questions.