American semiotic: Charles Sanders Peirce

The true father of semiotic matter is emerged, the true father for methodologic system, because for the philosophical is Aristotle(b.Ch. 384-322), Charles Sanders Peirce(1839-1914) is the true father, in an his essay, What is a sign, in year 1894, he written: “There are three kinds of signs. firstly, there are likenesses, or icons; which serve to convey ideas of the things they represent simply by imitating them. Secondly, there are indications, or indices; which show something about things, on account of their being physically connected with them. Such is a guidepost, which points down the road to be taken, or a relative pronoun, which is placed just after the name of the thing intended to be denoted, or a vocative exclamation, as "Hi! there," which acts upon the nerves of the person addressed and forces his attention. Thirdly, there are symbols, or general signs, which have become associated with their meanings by usage. Such are most words, and phrases, and speeches, and books, and libraries. Let us consider the various uses of these three kinds of signs more closely.”, the words: “ Such is a guidepost”, is a, indication very much important because the semiotic is such; this is the guidepost, that is normal reference that we use and, the psychology wasn’t the preferred matter of Peirce also because it was a matter very marginal, anyway the guidepost that we use both consciously and unconsciously but it is always present, but it is a sign or more signs, that we have in our mind. He continued: “Let us consider the various uses of these three kinds of signs more closely. Likenesses. Photographs, especially instantaneous photographs, are very instructive, because we know that they are in certain respects exactly like the objects they represent. But this resemblance is due to the photographs having been produced under such circumstances that they were physically forced to correspond point by point to nature.”; it is the birth of semiotic, the speculation of a sign or other on the photos that gives to us precise indications; the read is saying: “It is normal”, and answer is: “It so normal that nobody has descripted before”, Robert Musil(1880-1942) has said: “The monument is so great that nobody sees it”; this mention is opportune and necessary because doesn’t explains what is the semiotic, but enables for two motives: the first is that allows of identification of method of semiotic, the importance of sign, now took as the matter of study, the second consideration is that this exercise is absolutely normal, daily, habitual therefore we hasn’t considered that this exercise can become a matter of study, because it is the obviousness. Peirce has though also an hierarchy for the signs: the first is naturally the evidence of a photos, where the nature is evident, here other considerations are useless: “In that aspect, then, they belong to the second class of signs, those by physical connection. The case is different, if I surmise that zebras are likely to be obstinate, or otherwise disagreeable animals, because they seem to have a general resemblance to donkeys, and donkeys are self-willed.”, the clearest explication of semiotic is in this example, because Peirce explain, through the example, the capacity of mankind of supposition, that it can makes for alone the signs, the zebra can resemble to donkey, but it are alone surmises, that man can give for the sign or behavior of animals; in short it is the semiotic, hence the methodologic father of Semiotic is Charles Sanders Peirce.

Alessandro Lusana