Roberta "Bobbie" Kevelson (November 4, 1931 – November 28, 1998) was an American academic and

semiotician Semiotics ( ) is the systematic study of sign processes and the communication of meaning. In semiotics, a sign is defined as anything that communicates intentional and unintentional meaning or feelings to the sign's interpreter. Semiosis is an ...

. She was an acknowledged authority on the

pragmatism Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition that views language and thought as tools for prediction, problem solving, and action, rather than describing, representing, or mirroring reality. Pragmatists contend that most philosophical topics� ...

theories of

Charles Sanders Peirce Charles Sanders Peirce ( ; September 10, 1839 – April 19, 1914) was an American scientist, mathematician, logician, and philosopher who is sometimes known as "the father of pragmatism". According to philosopher Paul Weiss (philosopher), Paul ...

Personal life

Kevelson was born in

Fall River, Massachusetts Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. Fall River's population was 94,000 at the 2020 United States census, making it the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, tenth-largest city in the state, and the second- ...

and graduated from B.M.C. Durfee High School in 1948. Although married at 17, she returned to college in the 1960s and received her PhD in semiotics from

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

in 1978.

Career

During her

postdoctoral A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary acade ...

time at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

(1979–1981), she introduced the concept of legal semiotics. She subsequently established an international cross-disciplinary center for its study in 1984: the Center for Semiotic Research in Law, Government, and Economics at the

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

. She had joined the philosophy faculty of the Berks Campus at Penn State in 1981, where she was awarded the AMOCO Foundation Outstanding Teaching Award in 1986. She was a visiting professor at several institutions, including The College of William & Mary,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. Among her published works are ''High Fives'', ''The Inverted Pyramid'', ''The Law as the System of Signs'' and possibly her most significant work, ''Peirce and the Mark of the Gryphon''. She was a founding member of the Semiotic Society of America.

Works

Several works are included in the

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 ...

. * Kevelson, Roberta (1986), ''Charles S. Peirce's Method of Methods'', John Benjamins Publishing Co. (February 1986), 180 pages, hardcover (, )
JB catalog page
* * Kevelson, Roberta, ed. (1991), ''Peirce and Law: Issues in Pragmatism, Legal Realism, and Semiotics'', Peter Lang Publishing Group, 225 pages, hardcover ()
PLPG catalog page
* Kevelson, Roberta (1993), ''Peirce's Esthetics of Freedom'', Peter Lang Publishing Group, 360 pages, hardcover ()
PLPG catalog page
* Kevelson, Roberta (1996), ''Peirce, Science, Signs'', Peter Lang Publishing Group, 206 pages, hardcover ()
PLPG catalog page
* Kevelson, Roberta (1998 April), ''Peirce's Pragmatism: The Medium as Method'', Peter Lang Publishing Group, 204 pages, hardcover ()
PLPG catalog page
* Kevelson, Roberta (1999), ''Peirce and the Mark of the Gryphon'', Palgrave, 239 pages, hardcover (, ). Draws from unpublished Peirce manuscripts. *

References

American semioticians Pennsylvania State University faculty People from Fall River, Massachusetts Charles Sanders Peirce 1931 births 1998 deaths B.M.C. Durfee High School alumni {{authority control Brown University alumni Presidents of the Semiotic Society of America