Signs of Life -- A Talk by Professor Tim Ingold

 

Join the Graduate School for Interdisciplinary Studies for this talk by Professor Tim Ingold on ‘Signs of Life'.

For all living beings, both human and non-human, the inhabited world is infused with meaning. Does life, then, essentially consist in the traffic in signs? Semioticians would have us believe that this is so. In their view, there can be no meaning without signs. Professor Tim Ingold will present an alternative view, building on an ecological approach to perception and action. In this view, meanings can be perceived directly, as the affordances of the environment, rather than being necessarily mediated by signs. But just as there can be meanings without signs, so there can be signs without meaning. They are loose ends. The task of life is to follow them.

The talk will be followed by a drinks reception. For catering purposes, RSVP to [email protected] by 27 May 2019 if you wish to attend.