Abstract
The primary aim of semioethics is to explore the ethical issues that have been overlooked by previous semiotic theories. Semioethics holds that the ethical relationship in semiosis is a dialogical relationship between the self and the Other, and views listening to the Other as the moral value to be pursued in semiosis. Deeply influenced by Mikhail Bakhtin, semioethics views dialogue as the most fundamental form of semiosis and emphasizes the inescapable alterity inherent in dialogue. In its conception of the self, semioethics incorporates Charles Peirce's ideas, highlighting the sign-based nature of the self and the inseparability of the sign self from the community. Semioethics positions meta-semiosis as the bridge between moral judgment and moral practice. Simultaneously, drawing on Bakhtin's exploration of the grotesque body, it introduces the concept of inter-corporeity to address Peirce's neglect of the body. Through Emmanuel Levinas's distinction between the saying and the said, semioethics emphasizes signifying, which is overshadowed by the static significance, and calls for the self's response to the absolute Other through the act of signifying. Building on Levinas, semioethics further distinguishes listening and hearing, framing listening as a moral value to be pursued by the sign self.
Keywords
semiotics, ethics, dialogue, self, the Other
First Page
36
Last Page
44
Recommended Citation
Tang, Xiaolin, and Ziran Yu. 2025. "Ethical Relationships and Moral Values in Semiosis: The Core Ideas of Semioethics." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 45, (2): pp.36-44. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol45/iss2/4
