<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The aim of the paper is to elaborate on the metaphysical distinction between ideal signs and physical signs in terms of the method of abstraction. Ideal signs are derived from physical signs by eliminating certain kinds of properties as theoretically superfluous. Ideal signs are claimed to be instructions that prescribe how physical signs are to be produced in their graphic form, acoustic form or any other suitable form. It is examined which level of abstraction is permitted in the case of ideal signs, i.e., which properties can be eliminated while admitting that the resulting abstract object can be still considered a sign. It is argued that one cannot eliminate the properties that are connected with the syntactic and semantic aspects of signs.</p></abstract>

The aim of the paper is to elaborate on the metaphysical distinction between ideal signs and physical signs in terms of the method of abstraction. Ideal signs are derived from physical signs by eliminating certain kinds of properties as theoretically superfluous. Ideal signs are claimed to be instructions that prescribe how physical signs are to be produced in their graphic form, acoustic form or any other suitable form. It is examined which level of abstraction is permitted in the case of ideal signs, i.e., which properties can be eliminated while admitting that the resulting abstract object can be still considered a sign. It is argued that one cannot eliminate the properties that are connected with the syntactic and semantic aspects of signs.

Metaphysics of linguistic signs

Filozofická fakulta Univerzity Komenského

Journal of Linguistics/Jazykovedný casopis

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

{"article-title":"Metaphysics of linguistic signs"}

The aim of the paper is to elaborate on the metaphysical distinction between ideal signs and physical signs in terms of the method of abstraction. Ideal signs...

Metaphysics of linguistic signs

Publicado en línea: 31 dic 2020

Páginas: 167 - 183

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jazcas-2020-00020

Palabras clave
abstraction, acoustic sign, encoding, graphic sign, ideal sign, physical sign

© 2020 Marián Zouhar, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Metaphysics of linguistic signs

Publicado en línea: 31 dic 2020

Páginas: 167 - 183

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jazcas-2020-00020

Palabras claveabstraction, acoustic sign, encoding, graphic sign, ideal sign, physical sign

© 2020 Marián Zouhar, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Palabras clave
abstraction, acoustic sign, encoding, graphic sign, ideal sign, physical sign