TY - JOUR
T1 - Dynamics of the Collateral Encyclopedia
AU - Thellefsen, Torkild Leo
AU - Sørensen, Bent
AU - Thellefsen, Martin Muderspach
N1 - ISSN: 2198-9613 ISSN (Print): 2198-9605
PY - 2015/8/1
Y1 - 2015/8/1
N2 - Both Umberto Eco and Charles S. Peirce have been concerned with the notion of background knowledge. Eco refers to background knowledge as the encyclopedia; Peirce’s term of reference is collateral experience. The aim of this article is to investigate the degree to which these two concepts are comparable. We focus on one major metaphysical issue, viz. the fact that Eco defines collateral experience, which is the first step in any process of cognition, as private, whereas Peirce, as a realist, would never accept the concept of private thoughts, feelings, etc. We suggest that freeing collateral experience from its nominalistic nomenclature makes possible a comparison and synthesis of Eco’s and Peirce’s conceptions when seen from the perspectives of their cognitive type, nuclear type, and molar content.
AB - Both Umberto Eco and Charles S. Peirce have been concerned with the notion of background knowledge. Eco refers to background knowledge as the encyclopedia; Peirce’s term of reference is collateral experience. The aim of this article is to investigate the degree to which these two concepts are comparable. We focus on one major metaphysical issue, viz. the fact that Eco defines collateral experience, which is the first step in any process of cognition, as private, whereas Peirce, as a realist, would never accept the concept of private thoughts, feelings, etc. We suggest that freeing collateral experience from its nominalistic nomenclature makes possible a comparison and synthesis of Eco’s and Peirce’s conceptions when seen from the perspectives of their cognitive type, nuclear type, and molar content.
KW - Faculty of Humanities
KW - Charles S. Peirce
KW - cognitive type
KW - collateral experience
KW - molar content
KW - nuclear type
KW - Umberto Eco
U2 - 10.1515/css-2015-0017
DO - 10.1515/css-2015-0017
M3 - Journal article
SN - 2198-9613
VL - 11
SP - 329
EP - 346
JO - Chinese Semiotic Studies
JF - Chinese Semiotic Studies
IS - 3
ER -