John Deely

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John Deely (born April 26 1942) is Professor of Philosophy at the Center for Thomistic Studies of the University of St. Thomas (Houston).

His main research concerns the role of semiosis (the action of signs) in mediating objects and things. He specifically investigates the manner in which experience itself is a dynamic structure (or web) woven of triadic relations (signs in the strict sense) whose elements or terms (representamens, significates and interpretants)^[1] interchange positions and roles over time in the spiral of semiosis. He was 2006-2007 Executive Director of the Semiotic Society of America.

Dr. Deely is married to famous Maritain scholar Brooke Williams Smith (now Deely).

Contents 1 Publications 2 Notes 3 See also 4 External links

[edit] Publications

His most recent publications include:

• Four Ages of Understanding (Univ Toronto: 2001)
• What Distinguishes Human Understanding (St. Augustine's: 2002)
• The Impact on Philosophy of Semiotics (St. Augustine's: 2003)
• A third edition of his classic Basics of Semiotics (Indiana Univ: 1990) was published (Tartu University Press: 2005) in Bulgarian, Esperanto, Estonian, and Italian.
• Intentionality and Semiotics (Scranton: 2007)

See under "External links" for works online.

[edit] Notes

1. ^
   • "Representamen" (properly with the "a" long and stressed: pronounced /rɛprəzɛn.ˈteɪmən/) is Charles Sanders Peirce's adopted (not coined) technical term for the sign as covered in his theory. Peirce used the technical term in case a divergence should come to light between his theoretical version and the popular senses of the word "sign".
   • "Significate" and "significate object" are interchangeable in Deely's terminology, and correspond to that which Peirce called the semiotic object or the object. See Deely's The Green Book: The Impact of Semiotics on Philosophy, December 2000. Eprint. The object is that for which the representamen stands, its subject matter.
   • "Interpretant" is Peirce's term for a sign's meaning or ramification as formed into a kind of effect which is a further sign, for example a translation.

[edit] See also

• Postmodern philosophy#New perspectives on what postmodernity "is to be"
• Semeiotic
• Semiotic Society of America
• Thomas Sebeok#Sebeok award

[edit] External links

Deely's works online

• Basics of Semiotics, first edition, 1990 (the 2005 edition is greatly expanded). Eprint.
• The Red Book: The Beginning of Postmodern Times or: Charles Sanders Peirce and the Recovery of Signum, 79 pages, text prepared for the Metaphysical Club of the University of Helsinki, November 2, 2000. Helsinki U Commens EprintPDF (578 KiB).
• The Green Book: The Impact of Semiotics on Philosophy, 65 pages, prepared for the First Annual Hommage à Oscar Parland at the University of Helsinki, December 1, 2000. Helsinki U Commens EprintPDF (571 KiB).
• "Clearing the Mists of a Terminological Mythology Concerning Peirce", October 4, 2008. Eprint.

Bibliographies online

• Annotated bibliography by John Deely 1965-1998
• Annotated bibliography by John Deely 1999-2009
• Semiotic bibliography