Higher Order Sign Relations • Discussion 1

Re: FB | Charles S. Peirce Society • John Corcoran

Questions about the proper treatment of use and mention from the standpoint of Peirce’s theory of signs came up recently in discussions on Facebook.  In pragmatic semiotics the trade‑off between “signs-of-objects” and “signs-as-objects” opens up the wider space of higher order sign relations.  In previous work on Inquiry Driven Systems I introduced the subject in the following way.

When interpreters reflect on their use of signs they require an appropriate technical language in which to pursue their reflections.  They need signs referring to sign relations, signs referring to elements and components of sign relations, and signs referring to properties and classes of sign relations.  The orders of signs developing as reflection evolves can be organized under the heading of “higher order signs” and the reflective sign relations involving them can be referred to as “higher order sign relations”.

References

• John Corcoran
• Schemata : The Concept of Schema in the History of Logic
• Use And Mention, Use Without Mention, Mention Without Use

Resources

• Inquiry Driven Systems
• Reflective Interpretive Frameworks
• Higher Order Sign Relations
• Survey of Inquiry Driven Systems
• Survey of Semiotics, Semiosis, Sign Relations

cc: Academia.edu • BlueSky • Laws of Form • Mathstodon • Research Gate
cc: Conceptual Graphs • Cybernetics • Structural Modeling • Systems Science

Higher Order Sign Relations • 1
• https://inquiryintoinquiry.com/2025/03/22/higher-order-sign-relations-1-a/

Higher Order Sign Relations • Introduction —

When interpreters reflect on their use of signs they require an appropriate technical language in which to pursue their reflections. They need signs referring to sign relations, signs referring to elements and components of sign relations, and signs referring to properties and classes of sign relations. The orders of signs developing as reflection evolves can be organized under the heading of “higher order signs” and the reflective sign relations involving them can be referred to as “higher order sign relations”.

Some years ago I was formatting my old dissertation proposal on Inquiry Driven Systems for the web when the subject of “signs about signs” arose on the Peirce List. It called to mind the part of my document on Higher Order Sign Relations, on which basis Reflective Interpretive Frameworks are constructed, and the introduction to which begins as above.

Resources —

Inquiry Driven Systems
• https://oeis.org/wiki/Inquiry_Driven_Systems_%E2%80%A2_Overview

Reflective Interpretive Frameworks
• https://oeis.org/wiki/Inquiry_Driven_Systems_%E2%80%A2_Part_10#Reflective_Interpretive_Frameworks

Higher Order Sign Relations
• https://oeis.org/wiki/Inquiry_Driven_Systems_%E2%80%A2_Part_12#Higher_Order_Sign_Relations

Survey of Inquiry Driven Systems
• https://inquiryintoinquiry.com/2024/02/28/survey-of-inquiry-driven-systems-6/

Survey of Semiotics, Semiosis, Sign Relations
• https://inquiryintoinquiry.com/2024/01/26/survey-of-semiotics-semiosis-sign-relations-5/

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