Human understanding: The key triad

Article


Cobley, P. 2018. Human understanding: The key triad. The American Journal of Semiotics. 34 (1-2), pp. 17-38. https://doi.org/10.5840/ajs201862038
TypeArticle
TitleHuman understanding: The key triad
AuthorsCobley, P.
Abstract

John Deely’s contributions to the philosophy of signs have transformed semiotics. Key to this development has been Deely’s concern not just with human-produced texts but, instead, with human understanding amidst the context of semiosis in general, including realms beyond that of the human. Underpinning this concern, in turn, is his triad of sign, object and thing: A definite re-orientation of the theory of the sign. In this article it will be suggested that the triad, exemplifying suprasubjectivity and the primacy of relation, not only establishes the ground for rethinking common understandings of subjectivity, intersubjectivity and objectivity, it also provides a basis for re-conceptualizing other areas of social thought: In particular, how humans exist within their environment, both in terms of “affordances”—which generally facilitate human action—and “ideology”—which generally constrain it to the exigencies of determined circumstances. Deely’s realism, in its fundament of the sign/object/thing triad, demonstrates how mind-independent being is omnipresent, even when occluded in the objective order; it uncovers the “truth” of ideology and the Gegengefuge or ‘counter-structure’ of affordances.

Keywordssign relation; suprasubjectivity ; affordances; ideology ; semiotic animal; objectivity ; subjectivity; intersubjectivity; ecological semiotics
Research GroupEnglish Language and Literature
PublisherPhilosophy Documentation Centre
JournalThe American Journal of Semiotics
ISSN0277-7126
Electronic2153-2990
Publication dates
Print10 Aug 2018
Publication process dates
Deposited21 Sep 2018
Accepted10 Apr 2018
Output statusPublished
Accepted author manuscript
Web address (URL)https://www.pdcnet.org/ajs/content/ajs_2018_0034_0001_0017_0038
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.5840/ajs201862038
Web of Science identifierWOS:000444052000003
LanguageEnglish
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