Re: Peirce List Discussion • JA • GF • JFS • JLRC • JA • JFS • GF
A rather amusing, if slightly ominous illustration of the point I am trying to make here has just popped up in the daily mayhem. Let’s call this one:
Syntax Proposes, Pragmatics Disposes — or —
When Does A Question Become A Command?
The big thing that classification maniacs tend to forget about types of signs in a sign relational theory of signs is that they are always interpretive and relative, never essential and absolute.
- An icon is an icon when it’s interpreted as an icon.
- An index is an index when it’s interpreted as an index.
- The same goes for term, sentence, argument by any name.
Category theorists and computer scientists call that “polymorphism” and they study the isomorphisms that relate the various types.
Inquiry Into Inquiry 