Most bodies in this world do not have brains and the
minority of animal species that do have brained bodies are
descendents from species with more distributed or decentralized
nervous systems. Thus, bodies were here first, and only
relatively late in evolution did the bodies of a few species grow
supplementary organs, brains, sophisticated enough to support a
psychological life. Psychological life therefore from the beginning
was embedded in and served as a tool for corporeal life. This
paper discusses the semiotically controlled dynamics of bodily
existence that has allowed the evolution of these seemingly
‘unnatural’ mental and even linguistic kinds of species. It is
shown how the skin, on the one hand, makes us belong in the
world, and on the other hand, is part of the huge landscape of
membranes across which the semiotic self incessantly must be
reconstituted. The discussion moves on to the intracellular world
of signal transduction through which the activity of single cells
are put to service for bodily needs. The paper further considers
the mechanisms behind homeostasis and the semiotics of the
psycho-neuro-endocrine integration in the body. The concept of
semiotic emergence is introduced and a holistic marker
hypothesis for why some animals may have an experiential life is
suggested.
Keywords Body - Self - Experiential life - Semiotic
causation - Semiotic emergence - Holistic marker