Toronto studies in semiotics

C.S. Peirce was the founder of pragmatism and a pioneer in the field of semiotics. His work investigated the problem of meaning, which is the core aspect of semiosis as well as a significant issue in many academic fields. Floyd Merrell demonstrates throughout Pierce, Signs, and Meaning that Peirce's views remain dynamically relevant to the analysis of subsequent work in the philosophy of language. Merrell discusses Peirce's thought in relation to that of early-twentieth-century philosophers such as Frege, Russell, and Quine, and contemporaries such as Goodman, Putnam, Davidson, and Rorty. In doing so, Merrell demonstrates how quests for meaning inevitably fall victim to vagueness in pursuit of generality, and how vagueness manifests an inevitable tinge of inconsistency, just as generalities always remain incomplete. He suggests that vagueness and incompleteness/generality, overdetermination and underdetermination, and Peirce's phenomenological categories of Firstness, Secondness, and Thirdness must be incorporated into notions of sign structure for a proper treatment of meaning. He also argues that the twentieth-century search for meaning has placed overbearing stress on language while ignoring nonlinguistic sign modes and means.

"Being interdisciplinary in nature, semiotics, media studies, and communication studies draw from ideas and terminology derived from other disciplines. Hence, this dictionary also encompasses basic concepts from the fields of anthropology, archeology, psychology, psychoanalysis, linguistics, philosophy, artificial intelligence, computer science, and biology. Collected here are definitions and descriptions of terms, concepts, personages, schools of thought, and historical movements that appear frequently in the literature.". "The basis of each entry is a simple definition, which often includes the term's origin and important cross-references. Illustrations are provided where necessary, along with historical sketches of movements or schools of thought. The commentary on personages consists of brief statements about their contribution and relevance. Thus, the dictionary not only defines what a term means, but often delves into its history, applications, and broad implications.". "This is a compact, practical guide that will be valuable to students in semiotics, media, and communication studies. Because of its interdisciplinary approach, it will also provide a wide range of scholars with a handy reference to disciplines other than but related to their own."--BOOK JACKET.