The contribution of icons to the information value of symbols and other representations
Abstract
Peirce distinguishes between information which symbols imply and information which symbols convey. All symbols imply information, but only propositional symbols (dicents) can convey information. The information a symbol implies is the store of knowledge accumulated in it minus the signification contained in its definition. The information a symbol conveys is the new knowledge an interpreter derives from it in the form of a propositions of which it is the subject or predicate. Only symbols, not icons or indices, imply information. According to Peirce’s early theory (1865–68), information is the product of the quantities of signification and denotation of a symbol. Peirce’s later semiotic theory reinterprets information as a result of the interplay between icons, indices, and symbols. Denotation is reconsidered in terms of indexicality, signification in terms of iconicity. Neither symbols nor icons or indices can convey information alone. Sentence subjects are reinterpreted as conveying indexical, and predicates as iconic information. The icons through which symbols convey information are mental images, which are interpretants of the symbol. The paper examines why Peirce attributes to icons a «dream exciting power» and why the qualities signified by them are somehow «of the nature of a sleeping consciousness».
Downloads
References
Bellucci, Francesco (2018). Peirce’s Speculative Grammar: Logic as Semiotics. London: Routledge.
De Tienne, André (2005). Information in formation: A Peircean approach. Cognitio, 6(2), 149-156.
Debrock, Guy (1996). Information and the metaphysical status of the sign. In Vincent M. Colapietro and Thomas M. Olshewsky (Eds.), Peirce’s Doctrine of Signs: Theory, Applications, and Connections (pp. 79-89). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Johansen, J. Dines (1993). Dialogic Semiosis. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
Kappner, Stephan (2004). Intensionalität aus semiotischer Sicht: Peirceanische Perspektiven. Berlin: de Gruyter.
Liszka, James J. (1996). A General Introduction to the Semeiotic of Charles S. Peirce. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
Nöth, Winfried (2009). On the instrumentality and semiotic agency of signs, tools, and intelligent machines. Cybernetics & Human Knowing, 16(3-4), 11-36.
Nöth, Winfried (2012). Charles S. Peirce’s theory of information: A theory of the growth of symbols and of knowledge. Cybernetics & Human Knowing, 19(1-2), 172-192.
Peirce, Charles S. (1931-58). Collected Papers, vols. 1-6, C. Hartshorne, P. Weiss (Eds.); vols. 7-8, A. W. Burks (Ed.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press (quoted as CP).
Peirce, Charles S. ([1963-1966] 1979). The Charles S. Peirce Papers, 30 reels, 3rd microfilm edition. Cambridge, MA: The Houghton Library, Harvard University, Microreproduction Service (quoted as MS [manuscripts] in accordance with the catalogue Robin, Comp.).
Peirce, Charles S. (1982). Writings of Charles S. Peirce, vol. 1: 1857-1866. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press (quoted as W 1).
Peirce, Charles S. (1984). Writings of Charles S. Peirce, vol. 2: 1867-1871. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press (quoted as W 2).
Peirce, Charles S. (1998). The Essential Peirce. Selected Philosophical Writings, vol. 2, 1893-1913), Peirce Edition Project (Ed.). Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press (quoted as EP 2).
Ransdell, Joseph (Comp.) 2005. Passages from Peirce, chronologically ordered, on the role of icons in predication. Arisbe Website. Available at https://www.sitehost.iu.edu/rsources/quotes/iconrole.htm. Accessed Sept. 2023.
Robin, Richard S. (Comp.). 1967. Annotated Catalogue of the Papers of Charles S. Peirce. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press.
Shannon, Claude E. and Weaver, Warren (1949). The Mathematical Theory of Communication. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.
Sinclair, John (Comp.) (2008). Collins Cobuild Advanced Dictionary. Boston, MA: Heinle Cengage Learning.
Copyright (c) 2024 Winfried Nöth
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
