From Intuition to Indexicality: New Perspectives on Peirce's Theory of the Index

The division of signs into icons, indices, and symbols is one of the bedrocks of C. S. Peirce’s general theory of representation. While recent work on the topic has tended to focus on questions of iconic representation and its relation to symbolic or conventional modes of signification, indexicality has been relatively neglected. Yet, if Peirce is right, then indexicality is an essential ingredient of both pictorial and scientific representation; the index is indispensable in cognition as well as in communication.

This workshop will explore new approaches to Peirce’s conception of indexicality and its contemporary relevance. The workshop will demonstrate that rather than being just one component in Peirce’s complex theory of signs, the concept of index has significant bearings on the philosophical debate concerning intuitions as well as on present-day questions of context-dependence, graphical logic, and artistic representation. The contributions will address issues such as

• the development of Peirce’s concept of index
• the historical and philosophical background of Peirce’s conception of indexicality and its relation to his purported rejection of the doctrine of intuitions
• possible tensions in Peirce’s varying characterisations of indexical reference in terms of the dynamical connection between sign and object and compelled attention
• the distinction between genuine and degenerate indices
• the connection between indexical reference and collateral observation
• indexicality in semantics and pragmatics
• the role of indexicality in logical and scientific representation
• the role of indexicality in pictorial and artistic representation
• the role of indexicality in communication
• photographs as icons and as indices