Semiotics: A new look at an old theory

The Sign

Sign: something which stands for something in some respect or capacity (Pierce)

At the heart of semiotics lies the notion of sign.  A sign is something which stands for something else in some capcity or respect.

A SIGN stands for something (the OBJECT) by creating an INTERPRETANT, an additional sign that stands for some aspect of the object, but is not the object.  Our experience is mediated through signs and cannot be isomorphic with objects in the world.  We CREATE our world of experience by creating signs as we interact with objects in the environment.



3 Types of Signs 1) Icons: resembles the object in some fashion: may be visual (pictures, maps, diagrams) or not (algebraix expressions, metahors).  THe relation of icon to object is one of similarity.

2) Indexes: refer to the object through a causal link, not similarities.  Indexes refer to their objects through a causal link, not similarity.  Smoke is an idex of fire.

3) Symbol: refer by virtue of a law, rule or convention. Words, and propositions are symbols.  The connection may be completely arbitrary.



Incomplete Equivalencies 1) Signs represent only a single aspect of their object
2) Signs are incomplete in their representation
3) Signs have properties independent of their objects

When we interact with the world, we use signs to stand for things.  However, the sign acts to represent only one aspect of the object, not the whole object.  If it represented the object in tis entirety, then it would be the object, and the object cannot be moved into the human cognitive system, it must be re-presented.  This is done by the sign.

Thus, signs are incomplte equivalences.  Signs can be linked together to more fully describe an object.  They may be similarly linked in some new fashion to represent the same or another objet in some new manner.

Further, because signs are incomplete equivalences, they may have properties or characteristics of their own, which may be related in some fashion to other signs in a system.


 

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