Klaus Oehler
The ideas and basic outline of Peircian semiotics
Martin Krampen
De Saussure and the development of semiology
Thure von Uexküll
The semiotic teaching of Jacob von Uexkülls
Roland Posner
Charles Morris and the behavior-theoretical basis of semiotics
Hermann Kalkofen
Semiotics in the work of Georg Klaus
Literary report
Achim Eschbach and Wendelin Rader
Semiotics in the Federal Republic of Germany
I. Approaches to theoretic semiotics
Karl Eimermacher and Rolf Kloepfer
Semiotics in the Federal Republic of Germany
II. Trends of descriptive semiotics
The ideas and basic outline of Peircian semiotics
Klaus Oehler, University of Hamburg
Summary. The article is divided into three parts. After an introduction, which
shows Peirce's place in the history of semiotics, part 1 exhibits the different
stations which Peirce passed in his foundation of semiotic. It starts with
Peirce's Harvard Lectures, held in 1865, on "The Logic of Science", and
ends
with the correspondence between Peirce and Lady Welby, which ran from 1903 to
1911. Part 2 analyses the foundations of Peirce's semiotic from a systematic
point of view. Part 3 is concerned with the fundamental and universal role,
which Peirce ascribes to "the most general science", i.e., semiotic, and
its
significance for a new theory of knowledge constructed in semiotic terms.
De Saussure and the development of semiology
Martin Krampen, Academy for the Arts Berlin (HdK)
Summary. Semiotic principles for a general theory of signs and of meaning may
be derived from de Saussure's general linguistics, which he considered a
component of an all encompassing "sémiologie". According to these
principles,
objects are cognitively constituted by their opposition in classification
systems, such classifications are made from the point of view of a given human
practice, and the coordination of two systems of classification for such a
practice brings about a "semiotic structure". Since the constitution of
objects
and the formation of semiotic structures depend on human practice, sign
processes turn out to be socially and historically determined.
The semiotic teaching of Jacob von Uexkülls
Thure von Uexküll, University of Ulm
Summary. Independently of other currents in semiotics, J. von Uexküll
constructed a general sign theory as a basis for his theory of "Umwelt".
Following Kant's doctrine of categories he develops the structure of the
phenomenal world out of elementary "signs of order" (local, directional,
effectuating and temporal signs) in connection with "signs of content"
(receptor reactions to colours, sounds, smells, etc.). In the functional cycles
of living beings receptors play the role of "receivers" processing signs
according to species-specific codes. The sources of stimulation are
"senders"
producing from the outside (from the "non-self") signs which are registered
by
the "self" as "receptor signs". The stimulation source is in turn
changed by
"effector signs" emitted by the "self".
Charles Morris and the behavior-theoretical basis of
semiotics
Roland Posner, Technical University Berlin
Summary. For Morris, action is impossible without sign processes and values. He
investigates the underlying sign and value systems on the basis of Mead's
analysis of behavior and introduces semiotics as a systematization of the
positions of pragmatism, empiricism, and logical positivism. Accordingly, sign
processes and sign systems have to be described from the perspectives of
pragmatics, semantics, and syntactics. None of these perspectives permits
isolating sign behaviour from the functional context of action. Therefore, the
"phases of the act" postulated by Mead, i.e. perception, manipulation, and
consummation, can be used as a basis for the definition of dimensions of
signification and of sign use. Onto- and phylogenetically, sign behavior and
value behavior have developed from impulse-directed reception of simple
signals to purposive production of complex symbols. This development allows one
to anticipate future action and has thus contributed to the rise of
consciousness, freedom, and responsibility. Yet Morris' semiotics does not aim
at prescribing specific rules of grammar or ethics, it rather lays the
behavioural foundations for any kind of grammar or ethics in terms of
"objective relativism".
Semiotics in the work of Georg Klaus
Hermann Kalkofen, Institute for Scientific Film, Göttingen
Summary. Klaus' semiotics is based on a critical elaboration of Morris' sign
theory. From the latter the elements constitutive of the sign relations are
deduced: (material) object O, linguistic sign Z, mental image of the object A,
and persons M. Specific for Klaus' semiotics is the dialectic-materialist
interpretation of the relation between object and mental image. Consequently,
over and above the investigation of the syntactic, semantic and pragmatic sign
relations, the special discipline of sigmatics is postulated as the study of
the relation ZO. The purely linguistic interpretation of the sign and the
relation between sign and mental image give rise to a number of special
problems.
