The fateful law of human semiotics is this: that of all the objects in the entire Cosmos which the sign-user can apprehend through the conjoining of signifier and signified {word uttered and thing beheld}, there is one which forever escapes his comprehension--and that is the sign-user himself...The self of the sign-user can never be grasped, because, once the self locates itself at the dead center of its world, there is no signified to which a signifier can be joined to make a sign. The self has no sign of itself. No signifier applies. All signifiers apply equally.
In his work "Lost in the Cosmos," Walker Percy discusses a profound aspect of human semiotics, highlighting the inherent limitation individuals face in understanding themselves. According to him, while we can grasp various objects and concepts through the connection of signs, the self remains elusive and unreachable. This inability to signify or fully comprehend one’s own identity stems from the fact that when one attempts to focus on the self, there is no corresponding external signifier to define it.
Percy argues that the self cannot be encapsulated by a specific sign, as all signifiers apply equally without yielding a clear representation of one's essence. This creates a paradox where in the pursuit of self-awareness, individuals find that their own identity slips away from full understanding, reinforcing the idea that self-perception is a uniquely challenging endeavor. Ultimately, the self stands apart, forever outside the realm of signs that facilitate comprehension of other aspects of existence.
