Projective semiosis in hermeneutics (in the context of technical consciousness)

Within the frame of general semiotics, understanding means a process of sign decoding. A sign is an entity of four components, including a material sign, a way of denoting as a place of this sign in the semiotic system or as its sense, an object of denoting as a sign meaning, and the condition of sign possibility as a subject's skill (interpretant). To understand some sign means to find the defining rule; since semiosis involves three types of rules (semantic, syntactic, and pragmatic), understanding can be defined as fixation of an object, a place in the system or an interpretation skill. Technology is treated as a projective way of consciousness work with signs, which consists in reversion of reception and leads to creation of new "meanings" while realizing semantic, syntactic and pragmatic rules at each level of cognition, whether it is sense perception, understanding (Verstand) or reason (Vernunft). Technical consciousness is considered within three levels. On the first level it is treated as "tradition" and technology is defined as unconscious activity complying with certain rules and providing survival in natural environment. On the second level it is treated as "the second nature" and technology is defined as the process of creation of something new, which is possible in case of matter control. It replaces natural environment with an artificial one. On the third level it is treated as "the third nature" and technology is the means of reflection control. Technical consciousness described as projective semiosis shows evolution of an individual from tradition to neomankind. After the birth, a human being masters the skills transmitted by cultural memory, which provides survival in natural habitat. Fantasy, fiction and metaphysical conception generated by astonishment, aesthetic experience or a practical problem provoke processes of self-comprehension and make it possible (indirectly) to see reflexive character of practical activity. The ability to create fictional objects in material substrates generates the second nature which replaces natural objects of perception and presentation. The ability to modify rules of reflection leads to deliberate and controlled self-evolution of a human being by means of creation of "the third nature", where a human being becomes a neohuman being who is capable of changing the quality of one's existence as a reflexive creature. Projective semiosis in the context of technology shows that the understanding as the ability to "do", as the material realization of the sense of a sign is determined not only by traditional receptive semiosis skills of communication and cognition, but also by matter control skills and embodiment skills.

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