Icon Indice Symbol
"Peirce thought that “representations” generate
further interpretants in one of three possible ways. First, via “a mere
community in some quality” (W2 .56). These he calls likenesses, but they are
more familiarly known as icons. Second, those “whose relation to their
objects consists in a correspondence in fact” (W2 .56) are termed indices.
And finally, those “whose relation to their objects is an imputed character”
(W2. 56) are called symbols. Put simply, if we come to interpret a sign
as standing for its object in virtue of some shared quality, then the sign is
an icon. Peirce's early examples of icons are portraits and noted similarities
between the letters p and b (W2. 53–4). If on the other hand, our
interpretation comes in virtue of some brute, existential fact, causal
connections say, then the sign is an index. Early examples include the
weathercock, and the relationship between the murderer and his victim (W2.
53–4). And finally, if we generate an interpretant in virtue of some observed
general or conventional connection between sign and object, then the sign is a
symbol. Early examples include the words “homme” and “man” sharing a reference.
(W2. 53–4)." - Peirce's Theory of Signs
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