C. S. Peirce’s Definition of Symbol in §14 of the New List

Abstract

The main body of this paper consists of a commentary on §14 of Peirce’s 1867 paper “On a New List of Categories,” in which Peirce derives the concept of Symbol within his general theory of representations. Rather than aiming at a comprehensive study of the New List, the paper closely observes how Peirce arrives at his definition of Symbol in the New List by elucidating its main ideas. The paper suggests that Symbol occupies a unique conceptual locus in Peirce’s theory of categories and that his definition of Symbol in the New List is consistent with Peirce’s later formulations of Symbol. The paper includes five brief case studies of Peirce’s formulations of Symbol over the years 1866 - c.1911.