Signs systematically studied: Invitation to Peirce’s theory (original) (raw)
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Paul Grice’s Lecture Notes on Charles S. Peirce's Theory of Signs
This document provides a transcription of a significant unpublished manuscript by Paul Grice on Charles Peirce’s Theory of Signs, deposited in the H. Paul Grice Papers, banc mss 90/135, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. The notes concern the theory of signs, semeiotic, of the American logician, scientist and philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1914). The material was probably intended as the text for lectures. The ms consists of 46 non-numbered sheets. The editors have prepared the transcription from a copy of the original manuscript located in the Bancroft Library.
Peirce's Sign Theory, or Semiotic, is an account of signification, representation, reference and meaning. Although sign theories have a long history, Peirce's accounts are distinctive and innovative for their breadth and complexity, and for capturing the importance of interpretation to signification. For Peirce, developing a thoroughgoing theory of signs was a central philosophical and intellectual preoccupation. The importance of semiotic for Peirce is wide ranging. As he himself said, " […] it has never been in my power to study anything,
This paper intends to show how Peirce's Semiotic structures itself and connects different branches of his philosophy through the analysis of a visual model of representation of his 66 classes of signs. Peirce's theory of signs is very complex and abstract. It is not a specific semiotic and easy to apply, but a fundamental part of his philosophy. The most known classification of signs is the one in which he describes 10 classes of signs. Later he proposed 66 classes of signs and the first classification compared to this seems very simple. Certainly, there are so many details in this later classification that its own complexity makes it hard to work with. Besides that, Peirce had only proposed the logic way to construct it, but had no time to develop it in details as he did with the first classification. These reasons are enough to explain why until now there are not many works written about the topic and so many disagreements between them. To facilitate the work with so many ...
A diagrammatic approach to Peirce’s classifications of signs
Semiotica, 2003
Starting from an analysis of two diagrams for 10 classes of signs designed by Peirce in 1903 and 1908 (CP 2.264 and 8.376), this paper sets forth the basis for a diagrammatic understanding of all kinds of classifications based on his triadic model of a sign. Our main argument is that it is possible to observe a common pattern in the arrangement of Peirce’s diagrams of 3-trichotomic classes, and that this pattern should be extended for the design of diagrams for any n-trichotomic classification of signs. Once this is done, it is possible to diagrammatically compare the conflicting claims done by Peircean scholars regarding the divisions of signs into 28, and specially into 66 classes. We believe that the most important aspect of this research is the proposal of a consolidated tool for the analysis of any kind of sign structure within the context of Peirce’s classifications of signs. Keywords: Peircean semiotics, classifications of signs, diagrammatic reasoning.
Recent studies on signs: Commentary and perspectives
In this commentary, I reply to the fourteen papers published in the Sign Systems Studies special issue on Peirce's Theory of Signs, with a view on connecting some of their central themes and theses and in putting some of the key points in those papers into a wider perspective of Peirce's logic and philosophy.
C. S. Peirce on the dynamic object of a sign: From ontology to semiotics and back
Sign Systems Studies
Th at reality, and in particular the (dynamic) objects of signs, are independent of our thoughts or other representations is a crucial thesis of Peirce's realism. On the other hand, his semiotics implies the claim that all reality and all real objects are real for us only because of the signs we use. Do these two claims contradict, even exclude, each other? I will argue that both Peirce's metaphysics and his semiotics provide a natural via media: a structural account of the openness of processes, featuring transitive relations, connects process ontology implicit in his evolutionary metaphysics and the relational, quasi-inferential features embodied in interpretational sequences of signs. It is shown that Peirce's notion of a sign, its normative role and his account of the directional force of objects implies a sort of logical causality that supports the unity of objects. In this way sign sequences are able to relate fl exibly sign use with contextually specifi ed independent objects. Th at is to say, relational properties of object-oriented chains of interpretations provide sign users with a fl exible, fallibilistic instrument able to capture by contingent identity relations (teridentity) of the identity of objects in changing situations.
Peirce, Eco, and the Pragmatic Theory of Signs
European Journal of Pragmatism and American Philosophy, 2018
An argument that both Peirce and Eco sought a "truly general" theory of signs and how that aim coincides with the aims of pragmatism. It is shown how Peirce's and Eco's ideas about abduction tie their projects together.