Chapter 8 A Point for Thought: Reflections on the Immune Self

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

The immune self is one of the main organizing concepts in immunology. However, it is not quite clear what the immune self is and heated debates have taken place among immunologists concerning the meaning and usefulness of this concept. In this chapter, I further illustrate the benefits of a meaning-making perspective and argue that the problem of the immune self can be approached as analogous to the problem of finding the different senses of the sign in semiotics. Following this suggestion, I would like to present the idea that the immune system is a meaning-making system and in this context to provide a novel conceptualization of the immune self that integrates several ideas from immunology and semiotics.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationReviving the Living
Subtitle of host publicationMeaning Making in Living Systems
EditorsLaura McNamara, Mary Meyer, Ray Patondagger, Yair Neuman
Pages95-127
Number of pages33
DOIs
StatePublished - 25 Mar 2008

Publication series

NameStudies in Multidisciplinarity
Volume6
ISSN (Print)1571-0831

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Engineering
  • General

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Chapter 8 A Point for Thought: Reflections on the Immune Self'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this