Interpretant is a
subject (philosophy) /
sign (semiotics) that refers to the same
object (philosophy)
An object is a philosophical term often used in contrast to the term '' subject''. A subject is an observer and an object is a thing observed. For modern philosophers like Descartes, consciousness is a state of cognition that includes the subjec ...
as another
sign (semiotics),
transitively.
History
The concept of "interpretant" is part of
Charles Sanders Peirce
Charles Sanders Peirce ( ; September 10, 1839 – April 19, 1914) was an American philosopher, logician, mathematician and scientist who is sometimes known as "the father of pragmatism".
Educated as a chemist and employed as a scientist for ...
's "triadic" theory of the sign. For Peirce, the interpretant is an element that allows taking a ''representamen'' for the sign of an ''object'', and is also the "effect" of the process of ''semeiosis'' or signification.
Peirce delineates three types of interpretants: the immediate, the dynamical, and the final or normal.
Immediate Interpretant
"The Immediate Interpretant consists in the Quality of the Impression that a sign is fit to produce, not to any actual reaction." (Letter to William James, CP 8.315, 1909)
Dynamical Interpretant
"
heDynamical Interpretant consists in direct effect actually produced by a Sign upon an Interpreter of it.
-- heDynamical Interpretant is that which is experienced in each act of Interpretation and is different in each from that of the other...
tis a single actual event." (Letter to Lady Welby, SS 110–1, 1909)
Final or Normal Interpretant
"
heFinal Interpretant is
..the effect the Sign would produce in any mind upon which the circumstances should permit it to work out its full effect.
--...
tis the one Interpretative result to which every Interpreter is destined to come if the Sign is sufficiently considered.
--The Final Interpretant is that toward which the actual tends." (Letter to Lady Welby, SS 110–1, 1909)
See also
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Charles Sanders Peirce
Charles Sanders Peirce ( ; September 10, 1839 – April 19, 1914) was an American philosopher, logician, mathematician and scientist who is sometimes known as "the father of pragmatism".
Educated as a chemist and employed as a scientist for ...
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Charles Sanders Peirce bibliography
This Charles Sanders Peirce bibliography consolidates numerous references to the writings of Charles Sanders Peirce, including letters, manuscripts, publications, and . For an extensive chronological list of Peirce's works (titled in English), se ...
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Semiosis
Semiosis (, ), or sign process, is any form of activity, conduct, or process that involves signs, including the production of meaning. A sign is anything that communicates a meaning, that is not the sign itself, to the interpreter of the sign ...
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Semiotics
Semiotics (also called semiotic studies) is the systematic study of sign processes ( semiosis) and meaning making. Semiosis is any activity, conduct, or process that involves signs, where a sign is defined as anything that communicates something ...
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Sign
A sign is an object, quality, event, or entity whose presence or occurrence indicates the probable presence or occurrence of something else. A natural sign bears a causal relation to its object—for instance, thunder is a sign of storm, or ...
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Sign relation
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Triadic relation
In mathematics, a ternary relation or triadic relation is a finitary relation in which the number of places in the relation is three. Ternary relations may also be referred to as 3-adic, 3-ary, 3-dimensional, or 3-place.
Just as a binary relati ...
References
Semiotics
{{semiotics-stub