Symbol Without Subject

Symbol without Subject

Definition:

In the Ontology of Emergent Complexity (OEC), a symbol does not depend on the existence of a subject, a reflective consciousness, or intentionality to occur. A symbol is every functional reorganization of matter that encodes an absence — provided that this encoding operates within a material relational field.

Symbolization is not the gesture of an Ego, nor the expression of interiority: it is an immanent effect of sufficiently complex material systems that reorganize absences in an operative way. A symbol is only a symbol if inscribed in a functional material language — even if rudimentary, unconscious, or non-reflective.

Function in the Ontology of Emergent Complexity:

This entry undoes the idealist heritage that linked the symbol to consciousness, the subject, or intention. In the OEC, symbolization is a relational material gesture — prior to the subject, prior to articulated language, and foundational to the very emergence of reason.

• The symbol is not emitted by an Ego, nor does it depend on consciousness to operate;
• The symbol is only a symbol if it is part of a functional language, even a minimal one, that relates material inscriptions among themselves;
• Even non-reflective living systems, such as cells, can encode absences through symbols inserted into operative networks.

Example: The DNA molecule functions as a symbol because it encodes absences (proteins not yet present), but it only does so within a relational system — the genetic code — which constitutes an operative language.

Distinctive Characteristics:

• The symbol is an effect of functional reorganization, not interior expression;
• It does not depend on semantic language, but is always inscribed in an operative field of relations;
• It requires neither will nor intentionality: sufficient material complexity is enough for it to encode absences functionally;
• The subject can emerge from the symbol, but does not found it;
• Living systems, even without articulated language, can produce symbolization if there is a network of functional correspondence.

Formal Ontological Delimitation:

• A symbol does not require consciousness or a reflective subject;
• Every symbol depends on being inserted into a functional operative language — where multiple inscriptions relate present and absent matter;
• Outside this network, the inscription is not a symbol — it is noise or simple reaction;
• Symbolic intelligibility is not introspective, but relational;
• The symbolic gesture is first ontological, and only later (eventually) interpreted;
• The subject is not the source of the symbol, but one of its possible consequences.

Epistemological Corollary:

Rejected:

• All theories that associate the symbol with subjective intentionality or full consciousness;
• The idea of an isolated symbol, unrelated to other symbolic inscriptions;
• The expressive, psychological, or spiritualist view of symbolization;

Recognized:

• Symbolizations inscribed in functional material networks — such as the genetic code or neuronal circuits;
• Non-linguistic symbolic systems that stabilize and organize the absent;
• Language as the relational condition of symbolization — even outside the human, speech, or consciousness.