The notion of sociocode in the conception by M. K. Petrov

Abstract

Several fundamental philosophical questions — about the essence of man, his difference from animals, and the specifics of the perception and transfer of knowledge (information) — are discussed in the context of the semiotic-linguistic concept by famous Russian philosopher and culturologist M. K. Petrov. The author focuses on the concept of “sociocode” introduced by Petrov, which implies a relevant typology of culture today. The complexity of the task is that the work by the thinker is multifaceted, and in its different periods, we meet updated and conceptually enriched versions of this concept. In the article, in detail and consistently, based on the research of M. K. Petrov by domestic authors, his works, one way or another related to the topic of the sociocode, are considered. In this case, a special role is acquired by the themes of creativity, infancy, variations in the transmission of information through translation and transmutation, as well as human capabilities and the key role of organization and European sociality in the process of becoming typologically human, in contrast to the animal. The author comes to the conclusion that the concept of “sociocode”, as opposed to “biocode” (especially in its modern cybernetic interpretation of the latter), is a very effective theoretical tool for understanding the relevant issues generated by the situation in contemporary culture and society as a whole. It allows clarifying the origins of the “inconsistencies” that arise when cultural realities are transferred to a different cultural soill.