Milieu, Contingency, and Meaning in Nature

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between chance, contingency, and necessity in the evolution of species and its link with the mesology (Umweltlehre) of Jakob von Uexküll (1864-1944), with the logic of the lemma of Yamauchi Tokuryû (1890-1982) and with the “natural science” (shizengaku, 自然学) of Imanishi Kinji (1902-1992). Sections: “Introduction: From the Scholastic in Mesology”, “Semiosis, Myth, and Reality”, “Tetralemma and Actualization of Being”, “Evolution and contingency”, and “The baby has stood up, of course”.