Decision making and semiotics: a view in homeopathy Decisi 3n y semi 3tica: una visi 3n en homeopat -a Deciss ￡o e semi 3tica: um olhar em homeopatia

This paper discusses medical action, homeopathic medical action in particular, from a semiotic perspective. Any doctor ￠a a€ patient relation and communication aims at an action. Action in medicine follows a decision which is determined by the meaning of signs and operations with signs. In their turn, signs are conditioned in their perception and interpretation by the meaning they have to their receivers, both intra- and intersubjectively. The meaning of signs in the medical context relates to reference values established by normative signs, around which semiotic fields are organized. Signs never appear isolated but in configurations, meaningful only from the perspective of some specific coherence. While decision-making is a consequence of meaning, meaning is conditioned by codes predetermined in both the sender and receiver of signs. Each and every medical action has an outcome which might give rise to a new series signs ￠a a€ decision ￠a a€ action. The outcome of medical action functions as a sign subsequent to previous ones, and a new configuration might appear, which allows for new action. Homeopathic signs have as their ultimate referent an individual; these signs are configured in a coherent way using the specific codes. Specific configurations allow for specific decisions and effective prescriptions of remedies when they point out to the individual. Keywords: Medical action; Medical semiotics; Decision-making; Homeopathy. Deciss ￡o e semi 3tica: um olhar em homeopatia Resumo O presente artigo discute a a § ￡o m dica, particularmente a homeop tica, de uma perspectiva semi 3tica. Toda rela § ￡o e comunica § ￡o m dico-paciente visa uma a § ￡o. A a § ￡o, em medicina, segue a uma decis ￡o, por sua vez determinada pelo sentido de signos e opera § μes com signos. Os signos est ￡o condicionados em sua percep § ￡o e interpreta § ￡o pelo sentido que t am para seus receptores, tanto intra quanto intersubjetivamente. O sentido dos signos no contexto m dico se relaciona com valores de refer ancia estabelecidos por signos normativos, ao redor dos quais s ￡o organizados campos semi 3ticos. Os signos nunca aparecem isolados, mas em configura § μes, significantes somente como fun § ￡o de uma coer ancia espec -fica. Enquanto a decis ￡o conseq ancia do sentido, este condicionado por c 3digos pr -determinados, tanto no emissor quanto no receptor dos signos. Toda a § ￡o m dica tem um resultados que, por sua vez, pode originar uma nova s rie de signo