The reciprocal construction of Psyche and reality. A Peircean approach. Alberto Rosa (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid)

PEIRCE’S VIEW OF THE SEMIOTIC PROCESS.

The 3 basic forms of experience “My view is that there are three modes of being. I hold that we can directly observe them in elements of whatever is at any time before the mind in any way. – They are the being of positive qualitative possibility [Firstness], – the being of actual fact [Secondness], – and the being of law that will govern facts in the future [Thirdness]” (CP, 1.23] “It seems, then, that the true categories of consciousness are: – first, feeling, the consciousness which can be included with an instant of time, passive consciousness of quality, without recognition or analysis; – second, consciousness of an interruption into the field of consciousness, sense of resistance, of an external fact, or another something; – third, synthetic consciousness, binding time together, sense of learning, thought.” [CP, 1.377].

Semiosis Beyond the reference. Triadic relation: RepresentamenObject Sign Interpretant Ground

SEMIOSIS “A sign or REPRESENTAMEN, is something which stands to somebody for something in some respect or capacity. It addresses somebody, that is creates in the mind of that person an equivalent sign, or perhaps a more developed sign. That sign which it creates I call the INTERPRETANT of the first sign. The sign stands for something, its object. It stands for that object not in all respects, but in reference to a sort of idea, which I have sometimes called the GROUND of the representamen.” [CP ].

Ground is an aspect in which something can be a sign of something else. (‘black’ acting as a sign of ‘stove’) ground is an abstract category capable of acting as a predicate in a statement (e.g., the stove is black), – This requires that such category had been previously extracted from experiences so that category could be attributed to objects (e.g., a stove, but also to a crow, a piece of charcoal, etc.). ground is a result of a previous construction by the individual. Also a particular way of approaching the situation (orientation).

Object – may seem not need any particular explanation, they seem to be out there. We take their ‘reality’ for granted. – The object may be as concrete as a rock or as imaginary as an angel, ether, phlogiston, Don Quixote or a classless society. – Anything can be the object of a sign. What makes it to be the object of that sign is that the sign could represent it, and so making it a sort of entity to which to refer. Two kind of objects: – immediate object of the sign. What appears in a particular semiosis (ground). The particular presentation made by a particular representamen in a concrete semiosis. – dynamic object. something that offers some resistance, some limits to the actions exerted upon it. This makes it susceptible to be presented by different signs (e.g., blackness may sign a stove, but the stove may also be signified by hardness, heaviness, hotness, etc., but dampness, sweetness or swiftness hardly could play this role).

RECURSIVITY OF SEMIOSIS Triadic relation: SignObject Interpretation Recursivity Ground III SEMIOSIS III Ground I SEMIOSIS I Interpretant III Sign I Object (Sign II) Interpretant I Interpretant II sign III)

RECURSIVITY OF SEMIOSIS “A Sign, or Representamen, is a First which stands in a such a genuine tryadic relation to a Second, called its Object, as to be capable of determining a Third, called its Interpretant, to assume the same triadic relation to its Object in which it stands itself to the same Object. The triadic relation is genuine, that is its three members are bound together by it in a way that does not consist in any complexus of dyadic relations… The Third… must have a second triadic relation in which the Representamen, or rather the relation thereof to is Object, shall be its own (the Third’s) Object, and must be capable of determining a Third to this relation. All this must equally be true of the Third’s Third and so on endlessly.” (CP 2.274).

RECURSIVITY OF SEMIOSIS Ground III SEMIOSIS III Ground I SEMIOSIS I Interpretant III Sign I Object (Sign II) Interpretant I Interpretant II sign III)

RECURSIVITY OF SEMIOSIS Ground III SEMIOSIS III Ground I SEMIOSIS I Interpretant III Sign I Object (Sign II) Interpretant I Interpretant II sign III)

RECURSIVITY OF SEMIOSIS Ground III SEMIOSIS III Ground I SEMIOSIS I Interpretant III Sign I Object (Sign II) Interpretant I Interpretant II sign III)

RECURSIVITY OF SEMIOSIS Ground III SEMIOSIS III Ground I SEMIOSIS I Interpretant III Sign I Object (Sign II) Interpretant I Interpretant II sign III)

RECURSIVITY OF SEMIOSIS Ground III SEMIOSIS III Ground I SEMIOSIS I Interpretant III Sign I Object (Sign II) Interpretant I Interpretant II sign III)

RECURSIVITY OF SEMIOSIS Ground III SEMIOSIS III Ground I SEMIOSIS I Interpretant III Sign I Object (Sign II) Interpretant I Interpretant II sign III)

RECURSIVITY OF SEMIOSIS Ground III SEMIOSIS III Ground I SEMIOSIS I Interpretant III Sign I Object (Sign II) Interpretant I Interpretant II sign III)

RECURSIVITY OF SEMIOSIS Ground III SEMIOSIS III Ground I SEMIOSIS I Interpretant III Sign I Object (Sign II) Interpretant I Interpretant II sign III)

RECURSIVITY OF SEMIOSIS Ground III SEMIOSIS III Ground I SEMIOSIS I Interpretant III Sign I Object (Sign II) Interpretant I Interpretant II sign III)

Signs and objects Semiotic objects are not around us. They have to be constructed by actions. Experiences have to turn into signs. Signs are one kind of objects. Proper semiosis happens when a sign (an object) is able to stand for something else (another object). Experiences can stand for conscious phenomena, for real or fictitious things, for possibilities, for judgements or for complicated arguments. This is a lengthy and complicated process. How signs can come to existence: The Trichotomies. – Ways of signifying (functional relations)

CATEGORÍAS FENOMENOLÓGICAS Primeridad Segundidad Terceridad LA RELACIÓN ENTRE LAS CATEGORÍAS: Relacionando lo fenomenológico con la atribución de entidad

CATEGORÍAS FENOMENOLÓGICAS Primeridad Segundidad Terceridad CATEGORÍAS ONTOLÓGICAS Primeridad Segundidad Terceridad LA RELACIÓN ENTRE LAS CATEGORÍAS: Relacionando lo fenomenológico con la atribución de entidad

CATEGORÍAS FENOMENOLÓGICAS Primeridad Segundidad Terceridad CATEGORÍAS ONTOLÓGICAS Primeridad Segundidad Terceridad LA RELACIÓN ENTRE LAS CATEGORÍAS: Relacionando lo fenomenológico con la atribución de entidad

CATEGORÍAS FENOMENOLÓGICAS Primeridad Segundidad Terceridad Primeridad Primera Tricotomía – PRESENTATIVA Signo considerado en sí mismo CUALISIGNO Cualidad posible que funciona como signo SINSIGNO Cualidad instanciada en algo LEGISIGNO Recurrencia y regularidad de cualidades para un objeto permanente CATEGORÍAS ONTOLÓGICAS HOW A QUALITY (FEELING of quality) CAN PRESENT (BE A SIGN OF)…. a quality => Qualisign A presence =>Sinsign A regularity: a quality together with a presence => Legising (a rule)

CATEGORÍAS FENOMENOLÓGICAS Primeridad Segundidad Terceridad Primeridad Primera Tricotomía – Presentativa Signo considerado en sí mismo CUALISIGNO Cualidad posible que funciona como signo SINSIGNO Cualidad instanciada en algo LEGISIGNO Recurrencia y regularidad de cualidades para un objeto permanente Segundidad Segunda Tricotomía – REPRESENTATIVA Signo considerado en relación con el objeto ÍCONO Signo que reproduce cualidades análogas a las del objeto ÍNDICE Signo que coexiste con el objeto SÍMBOLO Signo que se relaciona con el objeto por convención CATEGORÍAS ONTOLÓGICAS HOW A FEELING OF RESISTENCE (PRESENCE) CAN RE PRESENT (BE A SIGN FOR) … a (real) quality => ICON the presence of something (real) => INDEX something else not immediatly present => SYMBOL

CATEGORÍAS FENOMENOLÓGICAS Primeridad Segundidad Terceridad Primeridad Primera Tricotomía – Presentativa Signo considerado en sí mismo CUALISIGNO Cualidad posible que funciona como signo SINSIGNO Cualidad instanciada en algo LEGISIGNO Recurrencia y regularidad de cualidades para un objeto permanente Segundidad Segunda Tricotomía – Representativa Signo considerado en relación con el objeto ÍCONO Signo que reproduce cualidades análogas a las del objeto ÍNDICE Signo que coexiste con el objeto SÍMBOLO Signo que se relaciona con el objeto por convención Terceridad Tercera Tricotomía – INTERPRETATIVA Signo considerado en relación con el interpretante RHEMA Signo con múltiples posibilidades de interpretación DECISIGNO Signo cuyo interpretante se actualiza en un contexto ARGUMENTO Signo de un sistema que se actualiza cada vez en un contexto particular CATEGORÍAS ONTOLÓGICAS HOW A FEELING OF DURATION (RELATION) CAN BE INTERPRETED AS A… possibility of something => RHEMA (Hypothesis) Certainty of an object=> DICENT SIGN (statement) Construction of an increasingly complex object => ARGUMENT (statements gathered by rules).

CATEGORÍAS FENOMENOLÓ GICAS Primeridad Segundidad Terceridad Primeridad Primera Tricotomía – Presentativa Signo considerado en sí mismo CUALISIGNO Cualidad posible que funciona como signo SINSIGNO Cualidad instanciada en algo LEGISIGNO Recurrencia y regularidad de cualidades para un objeto permanente Segundidad Segunda Tricotomía – Representativa Signo considerado en relación con el objeto ÍCONO Signo que reproduce cualidades análogas a las del objeto ÍNDICE Signo que coexiste con el objeto SÍMBOLO Signo que se relaciona con el objeto por convención Terceridad Tercera Tricotomía – INTERPRETATIVA Signo considerado en relación con el interpretante RHEMA Signo con múltiples posibilidades de interpretación DECISIGNO Signo cuyo interpretante se actualiza en un contexto ARGUMENTO Signo de un sistema que se actualiza cada vez en un contexto particular CATEGORÍAS ONTOLÓGICAS Firstness. Representamen Secondness Object Thirdness. Interpretation SIGNS (as objects capable to produce meaning) RESULT FROM SEMIOSIS. DEVELOPPING SIGNS

CATEGORÍA S FENOMENO LÓGICAS Primeridad Segundidad Terceridad Primeridad Primera Tricotomía – Presentativa Signo considerado en sí mismo QUALISIGN SINSIGN LEGISIGN Segundidad Segunda Tricotomía – Representativa Signo considerado en relación con el objeto ÍCON ÍNDEX SYMBOL Terceridad Tercera Tricotomía – INTERPRETATIVA Signo considerado en relación con el interpretante RHEMA DECISIGNARGUMENT CATEGORÍAS ONTOLÓGICAS Firstness. Representamen Secondness Object Thirdness. Interpretation SIGNS (as objects capable to produce meaning) RESULT FROM SEMIOSIS. DEVELOPPING SIGNS CONSTRUCTION OF SIGNS AND OBJECTS

CATEGORÍA S FENOMENO LÓGICAS Primeridad Segundidad Terceridad Primeridad Primera Tricotomía – Presentativa Signo considerado en sí mismo QUALISIGN SINSIGN LEGISIGN Segundidad Segunda Tricotomía – Representativa Signo considerado en relación con el objeto ÍCON ÍNDEX SYMBOL Terceridad Tercera Tricotomía – INTERPRETATIVA Signo considerado en relación con el interpretante RHEMA DECISIGNARGUMENT CATEGORÍAS ONTOLÓGICAS Firstness. Representamen Secondness Object Thirdness. Interpretation SIGNS (as objects capable to produce meaning) RESULT FROM SEMIOSIS. DEVELOPPING SIGNS RECOGNITION OF OBJECTS THROUGH SIGNS

Peirce’s Theory of Signs Signs are the result of semiosis. Recursivity of semiosis make signs of increasing complexity. These semiosis (signs) make possible new objects to appear. How semiosis creates signs and the world. – Recursivity.

The simplest signs They are feelings (sensations) which cannot be expressed by words. They are quasi-semiotic signs. CUALISIGNO SINSIGNO LEGISIGNO I Icono Índice Símbolo III Rhema Signo Dicente Argumento Types: of signs I II III 1.Phenomenic quality that can stand for the possibilitiy a quality (estabilisation). 2.Feeling of presence that is a sign of the possibility of a real quality. 3.Feeling of presence that is a sign of the possibility of a real something. 4.Feeling of presence that is a sign of the reality of something.

Isomorphic structure of semiosis and action Thirdness Interpretant Volitional act ACTION Sensorial Act Affective Act Representamen Object Firstness SEMIOSIS Secondness Action and semiosis collapse in the same formalism. Action has semiotic properties and produces interpretative experience. Established enactive beliefs (habits) about experience regulate actino (rule systems).

LA CONSTRUCCIÓN DE UN OBJETO CON ALTERIDAD Psiquismo sin conciencia fenoménica anticipatoria

SIGNS CAPABLE OF CREATING ESTABLE THINGS The signs are already regularities (Legisign = thirdness of thirdnesses) They allow recognising regularities. What is present is a sign of a regularity beyond the present They cannot be words (except “that”). Cualisigno Sinsigno Legisigno Icono Índice Símbolo Rhema Signo Dicente Argumento Tipos de signos I II III 5.= 1+2. a estable a quality is a sign of possibility of a known regularity. 6.A resistance felt is is a sign of the possibility of the presence of a known regularity. 7.Affirmation of the presence of a real regular thing. An inferential device – Abduction: Hypothesis => testing => statement of reality.

Construcción de objetos, del otro, del yo y de la situación

Contingent relationship can become a sign of the object. Many kinds of objects (material things with properties, actions, images, displays, gestures, utterances ) Time (what is absent/not present) comes into effect. Learning becomes possible. Conventional aggreements make possible to share meanings. Qualisign Sinsign Legisign I Icon Index Symbol III Rhema Dicent Sign Argument Types of signs 8.An object previously in contingental relationship is a sign of the possibility of another object. 9.An object previously in contingental relationship is a sign of the presence of another object. 10.An articulation of dicent signs linked by rules, is a sign constituting a dynamic object. Objects (including self, intentions, situations, predictions, etc., are a result of arguments. SIGNS CAPABLE OF ESTABLISHING CONTINGENTIAL CAPABILITIES

The interpretative process Actuality: Qualities, Presence, Regularity Object (sign):Icon, Index,Symbol Interpretation:Hypothesis, Enunciate, Argument Construction of Signs Interpretation Schema Conventionalisation process (individual and social) Social representation

Santiago (St. James, St Jacques) represented as “ Santiago Matamoros” (moors’ killer) Santiago is the Patron Saint of Spain, and the Spanish Army Calvary Corps

Santiago (St. James, St Jacques) represented as “ Santiago Matamoros” (moors’ killer) Santiago is the Patron Saint of Spain, and the Spanish Army Calvary Corps