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Revision as of 17:02, 20 August 2011
, 17:02, 20 August 2011→8.2.1. The Pragmatic Theory of Signs: + text
====8.2.1. The Pragmatic Theory of Signs====
====8.2.1. The Pragmatic Theory of Signs====
The treatment of inquiry to be developed in this project makes constant use of a philosophical perspective on thinking and communication known as the "pragmatic theory of signs". The subject matter of the theory of signs is a class of three place relations called "sign relations". These relations can be understood as set theoretic objects, as sets of ordered triples, and it is often useful in building concrete intuitions to consider elementary examples of this sort. But the sign relations of ultimate interest have infinite extensions and extremely complex internal structures.
Thus it develops that significant examples of sign relations are typically described and analyzed indirectly, by referring to a postulated agent that enacts or embodies the three place transactions involved in a particular case. The agent of sign relation is commonly called an "interpreter", who is variously said to partake in, embody, enact, compute, implement, execute, or carry out the sign relation in question. This brand of personification and its idioms serve a narrative function, supplying the observer in theory with an identifiable character and a point of view that reflects incidental variations in attitude toward the subject, but their purpose at heart remains one and the the same, which is merely to indicate or convey a particular sign relation.
Because inquiry systems will be described as special types of sign relations, inquiry driven systems and inquiry agents will be treated respectively as sign relations and interpreters that enjoy certain types of additional features.
Viewed within the pragmatic theory of signs, inquiry driven systems come at the end of a chain of incremental specification and increasing specialization. Starting from the bare conception of a triadic relation, notions of determination and correspondence are added to obtain the definition of a sign relation. To the static form of a sign relation, a notion of dynamic change is added to reach the idea of a sign process. To the aimless flow of a sign process, a notion of value is added that gives the succession of signs a motive, a direction, and a goal. Altogether, a system with non trivial values specified for each of these attributes constitutes an inquiry driven system.
What I just gave is a convenient order for taking up the attributes of an inquiry driven system. There is nothing unique about this approach, in particular, it is often useful to consider the dimension of value before discussing the dynamics of change. The most important thing about this list of properties is that it makes it possible to discuss the extent to which the changes of the system are in accord with the values of the system. A major part of the work remaining in this project is concerned with analyzing these global attributes into more detailed features, examining their relationships to one another, and ultimately translating their potential qualities into operational terms.
In this description inquiry driven systems are viewed as special cases of sign systems, those to which a notion of value has been added, by which a particular interpreter distinguishes what it considers to be better and worse signs of a given object.
This is a comparative dimension along which a particular interpreter distinguishes / recognizes better and worse signs of a given object, and differentially measures the quality of messages that otherwise have exactly the same meaning / along which a interpreting agent assesses a measure of quality among expressions, a comparative dimension of better and worse representations / signs of an object to a particular interpreter has been added, a comparative dimension of better and worse representation.
=====8.2.1.1. Sign Relations=====
=====8.2.1.1. Sign Relations=====
