Signs and senses as an epistemological problem

Abstract

The semiotic problem of the triad “sign – meaning – sense” is discussed as a methodolog­ical problem caused by philosophy of external realism and the representational theory of cog­nition based on it. Reification of linguistic signs, along with the erroneous view of the nature and function of language as a communication tool rather than the mode of existence of hu­mans as living (cognitive) systems, impedes scientific explanation of both language and lin­guistic signs. As an alternative, the core problem of semiotics is approached within the fra­me­work of constructivist epistemology that allows us to resolve the contradictions in the objec­tivist interpretation and explanation of sign, meaning, and sense which are viewed as emer­gent phenomena.

Keywords

• language
• linguistic sign
• emergence
• relational domain
• system
• constructivism
• knowledge