Abstract: By virtue of the development of semiotics, “body” is becoming a key term in contemporary philosophy’s exploration of the notion of a socially constructed body. Conversely, “sign” has become the basic element of cultural analysis for its contribution to the construction of body. However, body is invested with a prominent image while simultaneously forming the problem of hiddenness, which can be stated as “the problem of agency”. Butler has developed a theory of “performativity” to face the issues of discourse determinism, but he eventually falls into the conflict with the notion of flesh, which oversteps his constructed body premise. We may, therefore, be compelled to rethink the flesh body in a new context, and even to explore the problem beyond the frame of Western cultural and philosophical thought.
Key words: Bodies, Symbolic, Signs, the problem of agency.
