I define a Sign as anything which is so determined by something else, called its Object, and so determines an effect upon a person, which effect I call its Interpretant, that the latter is thereby mediately determined by the former.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- A sign is something determined by an object, which produces an effect (interpretant) on a person, and that effect is in turn determined by the object.
- In plain terms
- A sign links an object to a person's response.
- What can you take from it?
- Recognize how signs shape perception and behavior.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How do signs influence your decisions?
- Can you think of a sign that misleads?
Another view
The definition is dense and may not capture all types of signs.
More from Charles Sanders Peirce
Unless man have a natural bent in accordance with nature's, he has no chance of understanding nature at all.
Permalink to quote #5 By an object, I mean anything that we can think, i.e. anything we can talk about.
Permalink to quote #7 By 'semiosis' I mean, on the contrary, an action, or influence, which is, or involves, a cooperation of three subjects, such as a sign, its object, and its int…
Permalink to quote #4
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