The article aims to provide a general framework for assessing and categorizing the cognitive systems of human and non-human animals. Our approach stems from biosemiotic, ethological, and phenomenological investigations into the relations of organisms to one another and to their environment. Building on the analyses of Merleau-Ponty and Portmann, organismal bodies and surfaces are distinguished as the base for sign production and interpretation. Following the concept of modelling systems by Sebeok, we develop a concentric model of human and non-human animal cognition that posits three intertwined spheres: corporeity, social communication, and culture. The model explicitly works with the pluralistic perspective that views the communication and cognition of humans as distinct, but not superior to those of non-human animals. Our position is substantiated by two case studies: the first one focuses on the acquisition and spread of nut-cracking technique among the chimpanzees in the Täi forest, the second one on the communication and cognition of deafblind persons. From an epistemological perspective, our paper is a contribution to contemporary attempts to link biosemiotics and ethology with phenomenological concepts of agency, living bodies, and lifeworld.

中文翻译：

---

人类和非人类动物的认知系统：在现象学，人类学和生物符号学的十字路口

本文旨在为评估和分类人类和非人类动物的认知系统提供一个通用框架。我们的方法源于对生物彼此之间及其与环境之间关系的生物符号学，生态学和现象学研究。在对Merleau-Ponty和Portmann的分析的基础上，有机体和表面被区分为标志产生和解释的基础。遵循Sebeok建模系统的概念，我们开发了同心模型关于人类和非人类动物认知的知识，它构成了三个相互交织的领域：可亲，社会交往和文化。该模型明确地以多元观点工作，该观点认为人类的交流和认知是独特的，但并不优于非人类动物的交流和认知。我们的立场得到了两个案例研究的证实：第一个案例着眼于在泰伊森林中的黑猩猩中获取和传播坚果开裂技术，第二个案例涉及失聪人士的交流和认知。从认识论的角度看，我们的论文对当代尝试将生物符号学和伦理学与代理，活体和生活世界的现象学概念联系起来做出了贡献。