Glossar-English:Sign theories: Overview

Main-Item to: Images as Signs

Original: Zeichentheorien: Übersicht

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What does the expression ‘sign’ mean? Before addressing the question of whether or in what sense images are to be understood as signs, an agreement should first be reached on what is actually meant by the term ‘sign’. This clarification is by no means trivial since the expression is used in many different meanings, both historically and in contemporary discussions. Therefore, the present main item gathers a number of approaches on general and fundamental aspects of what (meaningfully) should be taken to be characteristic of signs and in what context. About the sub-items These items can be casually arranged into three groups: The topics of the first group refer to the theoretical environment of sign theories and, connected to this, to general characterizations of signs. Thereby the complex »sign«, »sign carrier«, and »sign system« is in the center. At least the more recent semiotic approaches are based on an action-theoretical foundation of the concept of signs, which places it in the context of the concepts of »interaction«, »communication«, and »modality«. With »pragmatics«, »semantics«, and »syntax«, a traditional distinction of semiotics is examined in more detail, which also classifies this glossary's lemmata concerning pictorial semiotics in the narrower sense. In addition, one lemma each is dedicated to a particularly important concept or pair of concepts of this tripartite division: Pragmatically, the concept »context« plays an important role; semantically, the distinction between »meaning« and »reference« is relevant; finally, on the level of sign carriers, the differentiation between »syntax« and »morphology« is especially significant for considerations in the philosophy of images. A second group of topics deals with essential components of signs. In the general framework considered here, especially the concepts derived from the semiotic consideration of human language are recapitulated and examined in their usefulness for the application in image theory: It is in this group that the linguistic-philosophical quartet of »illocution«, »proposition«​, as well as​ »nomination«​ and ​»predication«​ as parts of the proposition are primarily considered. On a more general level of action theory, the distinction between »interactional«, »expressive«, and »propositional angles« of sign acts furthermore allows for a cross-connection of those four linguistic-philosophical concepts to the topics of »interaction«, »communication«, »truth«, and »truthfulness/honesty«, which cannot be neglected for image-semiotic considerations either. Special classes of signs are considered in the third group: Here, we are mainly concerned with Peirce's differentiation of symbolic, indexical, and iconic signs and with the concept of notations vital for Goodman's symbol theory; both also have pretty practical significance, for instance, in the digital-technical coding of image carriers (⊳ Digital Image Processing).

Sub-Items Competence, Performance, Illocution - Context Interaction and Communication Interactional, Expressive, and Propositional Angles Meaning and Reference - Modality Morphology and Syntax Nomination Notation Pragmatics, Semantics, Syntax Predication Proposition Sign, Sign Carrier, Sign System Symbol, Index, Icon Notes Literature [Birk et al. 2014a]Birk, Elisabeth & Halawa, Mark A. & Mosbach, Doris (2014): Semiotik. In: Netzwerk Bildphilosophie (Hg.), Bild und Methode. Theoretische Hintergründe und methodische Verfahren der Bildwissenschaft. Halem, Köln. Version 1: 2013 Responsible: Schirra, Jörg R.J. Seitenbearbeitungen durch: Joerg R.J. Schirra — (Hinweis)