plaques & signs
sign crossroads in global perspective semioethics and responsibility
p language is the species specific human version of the animal system of communication . in contrast to non human animals language enables humans to invent a plurality of possible worlds ; reflect upon signs ; be responsible for our actions ; gain conscious awareness of our inevitable mutual involvement in the network of life on this planet ; and be responsibly involved in the destiny of the planet . p the author looks at semiotics the study of signs symbols and communication as developing sequentially rather than successively more synchronically than diachronically . she discusses the contemporary phenomenon that people in todays society have witnessed and participated in as part of the development of semiotics . although there is a long history preceding semiotics in a sense the field is as a phenomenon more of our time than of any time past . its leading figures whom petrilli examines belong to the twentieth and twenty first century . p semiotics is associated with a capacity for listening . this capacity is also the condition for reconnecting to and recovering the ancient vocation of semiotics as that branch of medical science relating to the interpretation of signs or symptoms . the pragmatic aspect of global semiotics studies the impact of language or signs on those who use them and looks for consequences in actual practice . in this respect petrilli theorizes that the task for semiotics in the era of globalization is nothing less than to take responsibility for life in its totality .