Vis-à-Vis:Signification does not necessitate backward causation
The result's identifiers
Result code in IS VaVaI
<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F61989592%3A15210%2F25%3A73633544" target="_blank" >RIV/61989592:15210/25:73633544 - isvavai.cz</a>
Result on the web
<a href="https://ojs.utlib.ee/index.php/sss/article/view/26387" target="_blank" >https://ojs.utlib.ee/index.php/sss/article/view/26387</a>
DOI - Digital Object Identifier
<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.12697/SSS.2025.53.3-4.05" target="_blank" >10.12697/SSS.2025.53.3-4.05</a>
Alternative languages
Result language
angličtina
Original language name
Vis-à-Vis:Signification does not necessitate backward causation
Original language description
The following paper examines the metaphysics of signification in John Deely’s work and presents two arguments:(1) that Deely’s metaphysics sanctions backward causation in signification, and(2) that there may be a more parsimonious view that can be defended.The paper briefly examines the background of Peirce’s metaphysics and then addresses his specific notion of semiotic causality, including the relevance of the vis a prospecto in his work. I will argue, however, that in accounting for signification, appealing to past states changed by future states can only be done in a weak, epistemological manner, as opposed to what I see as a modal view in Deely.As Deely’s metaphysics has profoundly influenced the philosophical discourse of current semiotics, it is important to assess the ontological commitments required for signification to take place. His account of semiotic causality as a teleological phenomenon may offer a powerful explanatory framework for how signification occurs (and with it, how signs come to be), but its consequences may result in counterintuitive ways of thinking about meaning-making.I offer a positive deflationary account of how to preserve a weaker sense of semiotic causality in order to avoid the risks posed by the vis a prospecto in Deely’s proposal.
Czech name
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Czech description
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Classification
Type
J<sub>imp</sub> - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database
CEP classification
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OECD FORD branch
60301 - Philosophy, History and Philosophy of science and technology
Result continuities
Project
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Continuities
S - Specificky vyzkum na vysokych skolach
Others
Publication year
2025
Confidentiality
S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů
Data specific for result type
Name of the periodical
Sign Systems Studies
ISSN
1406-4243
e-ISSN
1736-7409
Volume of the periodical
2025
Issue of the periodical within the volume
53(3/4)
Country of publishing house
EE - ESTONIA
Number of pages
18
Pages from-to
398-415
UT code for WoS article
001667475800005
EID of the result in the Scopus database
2-s2.0-105028880553