Universal mind

pp. 125-143

in: Aleksei Semenenko, The texture of culture, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2012

Abstract

The principle of cultural isomorphism and the concept of individual semiosphere inevitably raise the question of definition of consciousness. Lotman comes close to the domain of cognitive studies when he discusses such terms as thought, intellect, and consciousness, and it is time now to scrutinize this topic in more detail. How does Lotman define consciousness and thinking? How exactly may culture be presented as the "collective mind"? Is it possible to speak of the "collective intellect"? This chapter is going to establish if Lotman's approach may shed additional light on these questions that lie at the intersection of semiotics, philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience.