The history of philosophy as a semiotic process: A note on John Deely's momumental Four ages of understanding

Abstract

The histories of philosophy and semiotics constitute a continuum, as the separate historical treatments of both disciplines show, whether explicitly or implicitly. The first attempt to forge a link between the two disciplines goes back to John Locke, who claimed that it would allow philosophers to understand the relation between signs and knowledge. With the publication of the Four ages of understanding, a major treatise by the American philosopher John Deely, Locke's agenda for integrating the two modes of inquiry into one has finally received a workable theoretical framework. This essay takes a critical look at the framework. While some of the details of Deely's treatment may be discussible, it is difficult to argue against his overall case. Deely has, in effect, united philosophy and semiotics into one integrated approach to the study of human knowledge.