Existing as ‘a difference that makes a difference’: on cybernetics, semiotics, and being

The question ‘what is there’ has traditionally been studied in ontology, a major branch of philosophy. In this paper, I present a cybernetic account of ontology. Following Bateson, I present and develop a process-oriented conception of the mind, in which the mind is considered to be a matrix of differences. By using this conception, I argue that existence (or being) should not be considered as a property of entities in the ‘outside’ world, but as a sign for an identity-preserving process. This idea is elaborated through the semiotic writtings of Bakhtin/Volosinov and Peirce. Keywords: Being, process, Bateson, Bakhtin/Volosinov, Peirce, ontology, semiotics