Philosophy of Being and Knowledge

Semiotics (Theory of Signs)

Peirce's Semiotics

Although interest in semiotic problems has never waned throughout history, it was the American philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914) who founded the field of semiotics. Peirce's work is both a synthesis of all prior semiotic achievements and a significant creative breakthrough in the discipline. Consequently, Peirce's contributions form the foundation of sign theory, with his established terminology being used today as normative when discussing signs. His semiotic theory is distinguished by several core propositions:

• Peirce's semiotics is grounded in the distinction between two concepts: the sign and the representamen. The representamen is any reality that stands for another reality; the sign is a rational representamen. When a reality represents another reality not arbitrarily but in a manner related to the mind, that representamen is a sign. Any representamen about which people can speak must necessarily be a sign, i.e., a rational representamen. If a representamen does not come into contact with consciousness, no one can know of its existence.
• The representamen is characterized by a dual relation: ◦ It is connected to the object it represents. The relationship between the sign and the object is a necessary condition for the existence of the sign. Since it signifies something, some object, this act of signification constitutes their connection. Although a sign always signifies an object, the act of signification is not necessarily objective, meaning that the sign is not always dependent on the object it signifies. Peirce distinguished between the object as such and the object of the sign. The object as such is a thing that exists independently of the act of signification. In contrast, the object of the sign consists of the aspects of the thing that are represented by the sign. Thus, a sign represents not the object as such but the object of the sign, signifying only what is conveyed through the sign.

◦ The other vector of the sign's relation is directed towards the consciousness of the perceiver. By interacting with consciousness, the sign creates an impression, which Peirce termed the interpretant. This term indicates that consciousness interprets the sign, and the result of this interpretation remains within consciousness and forms knowledge about the object conveyed through the sign. In the triad of interpretant-representamen-object, the sign acts as an intermediary, engaging with the thing to extract the object of the sign and with consciousness to create the interpretant. In these relations, the sign remains external to both the thing and consciousness, thus its nature is neither objective nor subjective. It represents a distinct reality that can only be perceived in relation to the thing and consciousness. In these relations, the sign manifests as an active and creative reality that not only serves as a mediator between the thing and consciousness but also determines their nature, creating from the thing the object of the sign and from consciousness the interpretant.

• Peirce devoted much attention to the analysis and classification of different types of signs. Primarily, he developed criteria for categorization and introduced three trichotomies of sign classification, i.e., three criteria for categorizing representamen, and accordingly, divides signs into three types based on each criterion. ◦ According to the first criterion, signs are classified based on whether the sign is a simple quality, a particular fact, or a general law: - A Qualisign is a sign of a quality or a quality as a sign, representing a transient quality that reflects an important feature of the thing. The term "qualisign" can be translated as "sign of quality" or "quality as sign," as it consists of the English words "quality" and "sign." Quality is the simplest sign of a thing, the direct content of the object of the sign. For example, the color of the sky indicates the weather, and the color of the face or body temperature can reveal much about a person's health. By perceiving the qualities of a thing, people perceive the thing itself in those aspects through which it reveals itself. - A Sinsign is a sign of a particular thing, representing an individual thing rather than its types or categories. The prefix "sin" is used by the philosopher to denote an individual manifestation of a thing. Examples include proper names and representamen used to denote specific individual things. Since people perceive the qualities of things rather than the things themselves directly, and qualities are represented by qualisigns, a sinsign encompasses several qualisigns that together form the representation of the thing. - A Legisign is a sign that represents general types and categories. While a qualisign signifies a quality of a thing and a sinsign signifies an individual thing, a legisign signifies a class or set of things. A legisign always has a conventional nature, meaning that the designation of a class of things by a single sign is possible only due to the convention of those who use the sign. Although a sinsign can also have a conventional nature, it is not necessary. Legisigns, on the other hand, can only have a conventional nature (based on agreement). Since legisigns signify general classes of things that exist only through individual things, they encompass a range of sinsigns and project onto the objects of the sign, i.e., they are realized through sinsigns. Peirce called the expression of a legisign through sinsigns the replica of the legisign. However, only those sinsigns that are united in a generic sign by convention, i.e., sinsigns that represent things included in a category by convention or mental habit, can serve as replicas of a legisign. The types of signs in the first trichotomy differ according to their scope. Just as we perceive the qualities of things and through them the things themselves to form categories, the cognitive sequence is as follows: qualities-things-categories, and signs representing each stage of this sequence can be arranged similarly: qualisign-sinsign-legisign. Each broader sign is composed of smaller representamen.

◦ The second trichotomy is based on the relation of the sign to the thing it represents. Each sign relates differently to its objects. - Icons are characterized by their resemblance to the objects they represent. Icons signify not only things but resemble them. For instance, a photograph of a person is an icon due to its great similarity to the person. However, an icon can resemble its object not only in its entirety but also in its parts. A photograph resembles its object in its entirety, i.e., the completeness of the icon resembles the completeness of the object of the sign. To discern this resemblance, it is not necessary to break down the sign and its object into components; it is sufficient to perceive them as they are presented to the senses and perception. Another typical example of an icon is a diagram. Although a diagram as a whole may not resemble its object, if one breaks down the diagram into its components, i.e., the relationships between points on a curve, these relationships resemble the actual relations they represent. In this case, the resemblance of the icon to its object lies in its components. - The peculiarity of Indexes lies in their directing consciousness to their object. Understanding such a sign is possible only when consciousness directly refers to the objects. An index is a sign or representation that refers to its object not due to any resemblance or analogy with it, or because it is associated with general qualities of the object, but because it is in a dynamic (including spatial) connection with both the individual object and the senses or memory of the person for whom it serves as a sign. For example, pronouns are indexes. The information they carry can only be understood when consciousness can simultaneously perceive the object of the sign along with the sign itself. To understand the sentence "I will be here today," one must place oneself in the position of the speaker and direct consciousness to the objects denoted by the words "I," "today," and "here." Each of these words can refer to very different objects. The meaning of "I" depends on who uttered the sentence; the meaning of "today" depends on when the sentence was uttered; and the meaning of "here" depends on the speaker's location. - Symbols, according to Peirce, are signs that have no resemblance to their objects in their expression. The connection between symbols and their objects arises from convention or habit of assigning them certain meanings. This is a sign constituted as such only or primarily due to the fact that it is used and understood as such. Most words are symbols because they are related to the things they name not by natural connection but by convention and habit of using words to denote certain things. Unlike indexes, symbols do not direct consciousness to the things themselves; to understand them, it is not necessary to mentally adopt the speaker's perspective or imagine the things they represent. To correctly interpret these signs, it is sufficient to associate with the semantic convention, i.e., to reproduce in consciousness the reality that is conventionally denoted by these signs.

The distinction between signs in the second trichotomy lies in the specificity of the relations required for their emergence and understanding. Icons are formed and understood in the relations between the consciousness of the perceiver and the reality they outline. Since icons are characterized by resemblance to their objects, their understanding connects consciousness, in which the sign forms the interpretant, directly to the object of the sign. In the processes of forming and understanding an index, not only the consciousness of the perceiver and the reality represented by the sign are present but also the consciousness of the creator of the sign. An index reflects a thing through the consciousness of the sign creator. Therefore, the creator's consciousness plays a central role in forming and understanding this type of sign. The creation of symbols involves the active presence not only of the object of the sign and the consciousness of the perceiver but also of the intersubjective consciousness of the community in which the convention or habit of accepting and using the sign in a certain meaning is established. The meaning of each of these signs is inseparable from the active role of the sign creator's consciousness and the intersubjective consciousness of the community. In each case, these three types of signs denote the special features of relations among the components of the triad: representamen-object-interpretant.

◦ The third trichotomy is related to the interpretant of the sign. The interpretant is understood as the knowledge that consciousness acquires from the sign. Peirce analyzed the interpretant in three aspects: - The Immediate Interpretant is the interpretation that consciousness gives to the sign. This interpretant represents the most immediate and direct way the sign influences consciousness. The immediate interpretant of a symbol is the meaning it has, the direct understanding that consciousness derives from it. - The Dynamic Interpretant is the actual effect that the sign has on the behavior of consciousness. The dynamic interpretant reflects the changes and actions that the sign induces in the perceiver. This is often not immediately apparent but can be observed over time as the perceiver’s responses and actions align with the sign’s influence. - The Final Interpretant is the idealized interpretation of the sign as it would be understood by an ideal observer. This represents the complete and final understanding of the sign that would be reached by an ideal perceiver who considers all possible interpretations and effects. It reflects the ultimate and comprehensive meaning of the sign in its entirety.

These trichotomies represent the complexity and depth of Peirce's semiotic theory. By examining the different types of signs, their relations to their objects, and their interpretants, Peirce developed a comprehensive framework for understanding the nature of signs and their role in communication and cognition.