Semiotic; Theory of Signs
Semiotic; Theory of Signs
A general theory of signs and their applications, especially in language, developed and systematized within Scientific Empiricism (q.v. II C). Three branchesgrammatics, semantics, syntactics.
1. Pragmatics. Theory of the relations between signs and those who produce or receive and understand them. This theory comprehends psychology, sociology, and history of the use of signs, especially of languages.
2. Semantics. Theory of the relations between signs and what they refer to (their “designata” or “denotata”). This theory contains also the theory of truth (q.v., semantical definition) and the theory of logical deduction.
3. Syntactics. Theory of the formal relations (see Formal 2) among signs. Logical Syntax is syntactics applied to theoretical language (language of science); it contains the theory of formal calculi (q.v.), including formalized logic. Compare C. W. Morris, Foundations of the Theory or Signs, 1938; R. Carnap, Foundations of Logic and Mathematics, 1939. — R.C.