Sheets, Diagrams, and Realism in Peirce

442 Pages·2022·43.783 MB·English

by  Frederik Stjernfelt

Frederik Stjernfelt
Sheets, Diagrams, and Realism in Peirce
Peirceana
Edited by
Francesco Bellucci and Ahti-Veikko Pietarinen
Volume 6
Frederik Stjernfelt
Sheets,
Diagrams, and
Realism in Peirce
ISBN 978-3-11-079358-1
e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-079362-8
e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-079367-3
ISSN 2698-7155
Library of Congress Control Number: 2022939308
Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie;
detailed bibliographic data are available on the internet at http://dnb.dnb.de.
© 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Printing and binding: CPI books GmbH, Leck
www.degruyter.com
Preface
This volume collects a number of papers written over some years plus a final,
newly written chapter.They would not have been possible without discussions,
comments, help, and more from colleagues and friends.
ThankstoChiaraAmbrosio,MyrdeneAnderson,FrancescoBellucci,Priscila
Borges, Patrick Blackburn, Per Aage Brandt†, Horst Bredekamp, Svend Brink-
mann, Peer Bundgaard, Lorenzo Cigana, Marc Champagne, Andy Clark, Paul
Cobley, Finn Collin, Jack Copeland, Marcel Danesi, Terrence Deacon, Anne
Marie Dinesen, Charbel El-Hani, Claus Emmeche, Don Favareau, Hans Fink,
Steve Fuller, Riccardo Fusaroli, Gabriele Gramelsberger, Frans Gregersen,
Susan Haack,Vincent Hendricks, Jaakko Hintikka†, Aud Sissel Hoel, Michael
Hoffmann, Jesper Hoffmeyer†, Nathan Houser,Tony Jappy, Hans Siggaard Jen-
sen, Jørgen Dines Johansen†, Frank Kammerzell, Simo Køppe, John Michael
Krois†,KaleviKull,JobstLandgrebe,RobertLane,UlrikLangen,AleksandraLap-
čić, Kim Guldstrand Larsen, Jean Lassègue, Cathy Legg, Massimo Leone, Dario
Martinelli, Michael May, Anders Michelsen, Irene Mittelberg, Matthew Moore,
Winfried Nöth, Peter Øhrstrøm, Alin Olteanu, Svend Østergaard†, Markus Pan-
tsar, Helmut Pape, David Budtz Pedersen, Esther Oluffa Pedersen, Stig Andur
Pedersen†, Ahti Pietarinen, João Queiroz, Matthew Ritchie, Lucia Santaella,
Karl Erik Schøllhammer, Sun-Joo Shin, Barry Smith, John Sowa, Leonard
Talmy, André de Tienne, Ole Togeby, Kristian Tylén, Mikael Vetner, Tullio
Viola,Cornelis de Waal, Donna West.
IwishtodedicatethisvolumetomymotherMetteStjernfelt(born1927)who
faced the last phase of her life during my finishing the book. She has been
strong, independent, and supportive all the way through her long life.
Thanks to the University of Aalborg in Copenhagen for good working con-
ditions. I also wish to thank Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule,
Aachen,Germany,whereIfinishedthisbookduringagreatstayasavisitingfel-
low at the KHK Kolleg “Cultures of Research” during 2021–2022.
Aachen, 2022
Frederik Stjernfelt
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110793628001

Contents
Introduction 1
I Propositions
Chapter 1
Signs Conveying Information
On the Range of Peirce’s Notion of Propositions: Dicisigns 7
Central Properties of Dicisigns 8
Varieties of Dicisigns 11
Road Dicisigns asan Example 16
Biosemiotic Dicisigns 17
Adaptation to Dicisigns 22
Chapter 2
Dicisigns and Habits
Implicit Propositions and Habit-Taking in Peirce’s Pragmatism 23
Aspects of Habits 24
Habits in the Pragmatic Maxim 24
Habit, Continuity, and Realism 26
Acquired Habits, Innate Habits, Laws 29
Habit Straddling the Unconscious/Conscious Distinction 34
Self-Control and Consciousness 38
The Status of the Final Action Habit—A Proposition or Not? 40
Habits and Dicisigns Revisited 41
Chapter 3
Peirce’s Theories of Assertion 43
Assertion from Colloquial to Technical Term 43
Assertion as the Proposition Sign’s Self-Reference 47
Assertion as Assumption of Responsibility 49
Assertion as Persuasion 52
The Role of Conscious Deliberation 54
Everyday and Scientific Assertions 57
The Scope of Assertive Responsibility 58
Assertions in the Social Field 61
VIII Contents
Chapter 4
The Identity of Sweet Molly Malone
Dicent Indexical Legisigns—A New Element in the Periodic Table of
Semiotics? 62
Predictions of the Sign Combination Strategy of the 1903
Syllabus 62
The Riddle of Dicent Indexical Legisigns 64
Pragmatic Roles and Purposes of Dicent Indexical Legisigns 68
Chapter 5
Co-localization as the Syntax of Multimodal Propositions
An Amazing Peircean Idea and Some Implications for the Semiotics of
Truth 70
The Syntaxof Propositions 71
What Kind of Sign is Co-localization Syntax? 77
Labels 80
Co-localization Syntax in Early Human Semiotics 83
Co-localization in Comicsand Diagrams 87
Framing—The Topological Character of Co-Localization 92
Co-localization and Linguistics 101
Co-localization in Biosemiotics 103
The Ontology of Propositional Truth 107
Chapter 6
Sheets in the Wild
A First Overview over Types of Propositional Surfaces 110
Sheets of Assertion 110
A Few Examples of Sheets 111
Posters—Serious and Satirical 116
Types of Sheets of Assertions 119
II Iconicity and Diagrams
Chapter 7
How Do Pictures Act?
Two Semiotic Aspects of Picture Activity 123
Silk Print of a Silk Weaver 125
Threatening Pictures 125
Implicit Information 128
Contents IX
Chapter 8
Dimensions of Peircean Diagrammaticality 131
From the 1885 “Algebra of Logic” to the 1903 Image-Diagram-Meta-
phor Trichotomy 131
Operational vs. Optimal Iconicity 136
Diagram Tokens vs. Diagram Types 138
Diagrams as General Signs and as Conclusions of Arguments 139
Levels of Generality in Diagrams 144
Diagram Experiments vs. Real Experiments 145
Generic and Degenerate Diagrams 146
Explicit vs. Implicit Diagrams 147
Co-localization 148
Corollarial vs. Theorematic Diagram Reasoning—Explicit vs. Implicit
Meanings of Diagrams 150
Logic Diagrams vs. Diagrams Facilitating Logical Inferences 152
Pure vs. Applied Diagrams 155
Continuous vs. Discontinuous Diagrams: Are Parts of a Diagram also
Diagrams? 156
Linear vs. Multidimensional Diagrams 157
Diagrams in Non-Necessary Inferences 158
Diagrams in Peirce’s Mature Semiotics 160
Chapter 9
Iconicity of Logic—And the Roots of the “Iconicity” Concept 162
Peircean Iconicity 163
Iconicity in Logic Formalizations 164
The Algebra of Logic 165
The Existential Graphs 167
Beta Graphs 170
Lines of Identity 171
Iconicity in Existential Graphs vs. Linear Notation 173
The Birth of Iconicity 177
Chapter 10
Diagrammatic Problem Solving (with Svend Østergaard) 179
Information Internal or External to the Problem Space 180
Types of Insight Problems 182
Diagrammatic Re-description and Diagrammatic Re-encoding 186
A Special Case: The Cog Wheel Experiment 187
Cog Wheel Lessons 188
X Contents
Solution Strategies 191
Embodiment and Collaboration—Two Hypotheses 193
Chapter 11
Schematic Aspects of an Aesthetics of Diagrams 196
Diagrammatic Perception 196
Further Diagrammatization 197
Externalized Diagrams 197
Diagram Inferences 200
Multimodal Diagrams 200
Potential Aesthetic Qualities of Diagrams 202
III Semiotics and Metaphysics
Chapter 12
Peirce asa Truthmaker Realist
Propositional Realism as Backbone of Peircean Metaphysics 211
The Basic Kantian Argument 211
Predicate Realism 213
Subject Realism 214
Representation Realism 214
Realism of Indefinite Inquiry 216
Extrapolating from Propositions: Deducing Metaphysical Realism from
Semiotic Investigation 217
Chapter 13
Phenomenology and Logic in Peirce 219
Phenomenology among the Sciences 219
The Road from Logic to Metaphysics 221
From Logic to Phenomenology 226
Methods and Findings of Phenomenology 229
Plurality of Paths to the Phaneron 233
Chapter 14
A Peirce for the 21 Century
Theoretical Development as Key to Peirce’s Semiotics 235
The Mazes of the Development of Peirce’s Semiotics 235
The Birth of Peirce’s Semiotics—The 1860s 238
From Semiotics to Pragmatism—The 1870s 240