Author Archives: Jon Awbrey

Interpreter and Interpretant • Selection 3

Posted on January 30, 2024 by Jon Awbrey

The following selection from Peirce’s “Lowell Lectures on the Logic of Science” (1866) lays out in detail his “metaphorical argument” for the relationship between interpreters and interpretant signs. I think we need to reflect upon the circumstance that every word implies … Continue reading →

Posted in C.S. Peirce, Diagrammatic Reasoning, Interpretive Frameworks, Logic, Logical Graphs, Objective Frameworks, Relation Theory, Semiotics, Sign Relations, Systems of Interpretation, Triadic Relations, Visualization | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Interpreter and Interpretant • Selection 2

Posted on January 28, 2024 by Jon Awbrey

In the next passage up for review the hypostatic abstraction of a person to conduct the movement of signs is described by Peirce as a Sop to Cerberus, a rhetorical gambit set to side‑step a persistent difficulty of exposition. It … Continue reading →

Posted in C.S. Peirce, Diagrammatic Reasoning, Interpretive Frameworks, Logic, Logical Graphs, Objective Frameworks, Relation Theory, Semiotics, Sign Relations, Systems of Interpretation, Triadic Relations, Visualization | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Interpreter and Interpretant • Selection 1

Posted on January 27, 2024 by Jon Awbrey

Questions about the relationship between “interpreters” and “interpretants” in Peircean semiotics have broken out again.  To put the matter as pointedly as possible — because I know someone or other is bound to — “In a theory of three‑place relations … Continue reading →

Posted in C.S. Peirce, Diagrammatic Reasoning, Interpretive Frameworks, Logic, Logical Graphs, Objective Frameworks, Relation Theory, Semiotics, Sign Relations, Systems of Interpretation, Triadic Relations, Visualization | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Survey of Semiotics, Semiosis, Sign Relations • 5

Posted on January 26, 2024 by Jon Awbrey

C.S. Peirce defines logic as “formal semiotic”, using formal to highlight the place of logic as a normative science, over and above the descriptive study of signs and their role in wider fields of play.  Understanding logic as Peirce understands … Continue reading →

Posted in C.S. Peirce, Inquiry, Logic, Mathematics, Relation Theory, Semiosis, Semiotics, Sign Relations, Triadicity | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 29 Comments

Survey of Cybernetics • 4

Posted on January 25, 2024 by Jon Awbrey

Again, in a ship, if a man were at liberty to do what he chose, but were devoid of mind and excellence in navigation (αρετης κυβερνητικης), do you perceive what must happen to him and his fellow sailors? — Plato … Continue reading →

Posted in Abduction, C.S. Peirce, Communication, Control, Cybernetics, Deduction, Determination, Discovery, Doubt, Epistemology, Fixation of Belief, Induction, Information, Information = Comprehension × Extension, Information Theory, Inquiry, Inquiry Driven Systems, Inquiry Into Inquiry, Interpretation, Invention, Knowledge, Learning Theory, Logic, Logic of Relatives, Logic of Science, Mathematics, Peirce, Philosophy, Philosophy of Science, Pragmatic Information, Probable Reasoning, Process Thinking, Relation Theory, Scientific Inquiry, Scientific Method, Semeiosis, Semiosis, Semiotic Information, Semiotics, Sign Relational Manifolds, Sign Relations, Surveys, Triadic Relations, Uncertainty | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Survey of Definition and Determination • 3

Posted on January 24, 2024 by Jon Awbrey

In the early 1990s, “in the middle of life’s journey” as the saying goes, I returned to grad school in a systems engineering program with the idea of taking a more systems-theoretic approach to my development of Peircean themes, from … Continue reading →

Posted in C.S. Peirce, Comprehension, Constraint, Definition, Determination, Extension, Form, Indication, Information = Comprehension × Extension, Inquiry, Logic, Mathematics, Scientific Method, Semiotics, Sign Relations, Structure | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The object of reasoning is to find out …

Posted on January 23, 2024 by Jon Awbrey

No longer wondered what I would do in life but defined my object. — C.S. Peirce (1861), “My Life, written for the Class-Book”, (CE 1, 3) The object of reasoning is to find out, from the consideration of what we already … Continue reading →

Posted in C.S. Peirce, Determination, Dyadic Relations, Fixation of Belief, Inference, Inquiry, Intention, Intentional Contexts, Intentional Objects, Logic, Objects Objectives Objectivity, Pragmata, Pragmatism, Reasoning, Scientific Inquiry, Semiotics, Sign Relations, Triadic Relations, Triadicity | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Differential Propositional Calculus • Discussion 9

Posted on January 21, 2024 by Jon Awbrey

Consider what effects that might conceivably have practical bearings you conceive the objects of your conception to have.  Then, your conception of those effects is the whole of your conception of the object. — C.S. Peirce • The Maxim of … Continue reading →

Posted in Amphecks, Boolean Functions, C.S. Peirce, Cactus Graphs, Category Theory, Change, Computational Complexity, Cybernetics, Differential Analytic Turing Automata, Differential Calculus, Differential Logic, Discrete Dynamics, Dynamical Systems, Equational Inference, Functional Logic, Gradient Descent, Graph Theory, Group Theory, Hologrammautomaton, Indicator Functions, Logic, Logical Graphs, Mathematical Models, Mathematics, Minimal Negation Operators, Painted Cacti, Peirce, Propositional Calculus, Propositional Equation Reasoning Systems, Time, Visualization | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

In the Way of Inquiry • Discussion 1

Posted on January 15, 2024 by Jon Awbrey

Re: In the Way of Inquiry • Justification Trap Re: Academia.edu • Bhupinder Singh Anand BSA: Thanks for highlighting what I perceive as some challenging issues in the foundations of what we seek to term as “Knowledge” and “Truth”.  … … Continue reading →

Posted in Animata, C.S. Peirce, Inquiry, Inquiry Driven Systems, Inquiry Into Inquiry, Intelligent Systems, Semiotics | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Riffs and Rotes • Happy New Year 2024

Posted on January 2, 2024 by Jon Awbrey

No information is lost by dropping the terminal 1s.  Thus we may write the following form. The article referenced below tells how forms like these correspond to a family of digraphs called riffs and a family of graphs called rotes.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Algebra, Combinatorics, Graph Theory, Group Theory, Logic, Mathematics, Number Theory, Riffs and Rotes | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment