A Transactional Model of Peircean Semiotic

Abstract

Within the Peircean semiotic tradition, the distinction between process and discrete stage sets up an interesting problem, since, as with any distinction between a continuum and elements which comprise it, a Peircean perspective must confront the issue of how the transformation is made between the seamless procedural flow (semiosis) and the isolated stages (triads) which comprise it.There are four concepts in Peircean semiotics where this issue is especially exposed: two conceptions of the dynamic object, translation, and the percept. This paper consists of two parts: the first reviews these concepts and the questions they present for reconciling triad and continuum; the second part offers a Peircean model that seeks to reconcile the paradoxes.