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209The starting point for this article is the question of the relationship between Darwinism and Christian theology. I suggest that evolutionary theory presents three broad issues of relevance to theology: the phenomena ofcontinuity, naturalism, andcontingency. In order to formulate a theological response to these issues I draw on the semiotics (theory of signs) and cosmology of the American philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce. Peirce developed a triadic theory of signs, underpinned by a threefold s…Read more
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182Discussion of the conceptual basis of biosemioticsZygon 45 (2): 409-418. 2010.Kalevi Kull and colleagues recently proposed eight theses as a conceptual basis for the field of biosemiotics. We use these theses as a framework for discussing important current areas of debate in biosemiotics with particular reference to the articles collected in this issue of Zygon.
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171God and the world of signs: Introduction to part 2Zygon 45 (3): 685-688. 2010.We introduce the second part of a two-part collection of articles exploring a possible new research program in the field of science and religion. At the center of the program lies an attempt to develop a new theology of nature drawing on the philosophy of C. S. Peirce. Our overall idea is that the fundamental structure of the world is exactly that required for the emergence of meaning and truth-bearing representation. We understand the emergence of a capacity to interpret an environment to be im…Read more
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167Introduction: Toward a metaphysic of meaningZygon 45 (2): 339-344. 2010.We introduce a two-part collection of articles (Part 2 to appear in the September 2010 issue) exploring a possible new research program in the field of science and religion. At the center of the program lies an attempt to develop a new theology of nature drawing on the philosophy of C. S. Peirce. Our overall idea is that the fundamental structure of the world is exactly that required for the emergence of meaning and truth-bearing representation. We understand the emergence of a capacity to inter…Read more
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98Interpretation and the origin of lifeZygon 45 (2): 345-360. 2010.We offer a general definition of interpretation based on a naturalized teleology. The definition tests and extends the biosemiotic paradigm by seeking to provide a philosophically robust resource for investigating the possible role of semiosis (processes of representation and interpretation) in biological systems. We show that our definition provides a way of understanding various possible kinds of misinterpretation, illustrate the definition using examples at the cellular and subcellular level,…Read more
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79Semiotics as a metaphysical framework for Christian theologyZygon 45 (3): 689-712. 2010.We provide an overview of a proposal for a new metaphysical framework within which theology and science might both find a home. Our proposal draws on the triadic semiotics and threefold system of metaphysical categories of C. S. Peirce. We summarize the key features of a semiotic model of the Trinity, based on observed parallels between Peirce's categories of Firstness, Secondness, and Thirdness and Christian thinking about, respectively, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We test and extend the …Read more
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70A general definition of interpretation and its application to origin of life researchBiology and Philosophy 25 (2): 163-181. 2010.We draw on Short’s work on Peirce’s theory of signs to propose a new general definition of interpretation. Short argues that Peirce’s semiotics rests on his naturalised teleology. Our proposal extends Short’s work by modifying his definition of interpretation so as to make it more generally applicable to putatively interpretative processes in biological systems. We use our definition as the basis of an account of different kinds of misinterpretation and we discuss some questions raised by the de…Read more
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52Broken symbols? Response to F. leron shultsZygon 45 (3): 733-738. 2010.In the preceding article in this section, F. LeRon Shults responds to our article preceding his, “Semiotics as a Metaphysical Framework for Christian Theology.” We respond here to his criticisms of our proposal. We discuss his concerns about the concept of “vestiges of the Trinity in creation” and argue that this does not undermine the absolute ontological difference between God and creation. We offer a clarification of our idea that the Incarnation may be understood, in terms of Peirce's taxono…Read more
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50A Ticklish Subject? Žižek and the Future of Left RadicalismThesis Eleven 80 (1): 94-107. 2005.The work of Slavoj Žižek has become an essential reference point for debates concerning the future of left radical thought and practice. His attacks on identity politics, multiculturalism and ‘radical democracy’ have established him as a leading figure amongst those looking to renew the link between socialist discourse and a transformative politics. However, we contend that despite the undeniable radicality of Žižek’s theoretical approach, his politics offers little in the way of inspiration for…Read more
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44Drawing on the philosophy of C. S. Peirce, Robinson develops a ‘semiotic model’ of the Trinity and proposes a new theology of nature according to which the evolving cosmos may be understood as bearing ‘vestiges of the Trinity in ...
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41Symptoms of a New Politics: Networks, Minoritarianism and the Social Symptom in Žižek, Deleuze and GuattariDeleuze and Guatarri Studies 4 (2): 206-233. 2010.This article explores the contemporary ‘symptomatic’ position of radically excluded social groups through a critical engagement with the work of Žižek, Deleuze and Guattari. It begins with a presentation and critique of Žižek's theorisation, arguing that while he correctly perceives the symptomatic status of certain social groups and issues, his approach is insufficiently radical because of its reliance on inappropriate structuralist assumptions and metaphysical negativity. It then compares this…Read more
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31Žižek's Marx: 'Sublime Object' or a 'Plague of Fantasies'?Historical Materialism 14 (3): 145-174. 2006.
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25Odours influence distributed patterns of brain activity for matching visual objectsFrontiers in Human Neuroscience 9. 2015.
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13Žižek's Marx: 'Sublime Object' or a 'Plague of Fantasies'?Historical Materialism 14 (3): 145. 2006.
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10Church proliferation and immorality in Nigeria: Interrogating the paradoxHTS Theological Studies 77 (1). 2021.
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8The starting point for this article is the question of the relationship between Darwinism and Christian theology. I suggest that evolutionary theory presents three broad issues of relevance to theology: the phenomena ofcontinuity, naturalism, andcontingency. In order to formulate a theological response to these issues I draw on the semiotics (theory of signs) and cosmology of the American philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce. Peirce developed a triadic theory of signs, underpinned by a threefold s…Read more
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6Ethical Transhumanism: How can a nudge approach to public health make human enhancement more ethical?Dissertation, University of Kent. 2021.Transhumanism at once embodies our most modern thinking and our biggest longstanding problems. Transhumanism aims to enhance human core capacities: health-span, lifespan, and cognition. The thesis answers the following ethical challenges arising from transhumanist aims. First, whether transhumanism can be an ethical endeavour if it relies on authoritarian intervention by governments and governing bodies to change, generate and enforce behaviour, or to influence and enforce the uptake of medical …Read more
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5Chapter 1 Living in Smooth Space: Deleuze, Postcolonialism and the SubalternIn Simone Bignall & Paul Patton (eds.), Deleuze and the Postcolonial, Edinburgh University Press. pp. 20-40. 2010.
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Living in smooth space: Deleuze, postcolonialism and the subalternIn Simone Bignall & Paul Patton (eds.), Deleuze and the Postcolonial, Edinburgh University Press. pp. 20--40. 2010.
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Indivíduo: de Galton à Carta da ONUCircumscribere: International Journal for the History of Science 4 (1). 2008.