Dynamics of the Collateral Encyclopedia

Torkild Leo Thellefsen; Bent Sørensen; Martin Muderspach Thellefsen

doi:10.1515/css-2015-0017

Dynamics of the Collateral Encyclopedia

Torkild Leo Thellefsen, Bent Sørensen, Martin Muderspach Thellefsen

Department of Communication

Abstract

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.

Original language	English
Journal	Chinese Semiotic Studies
Volume	11
Issue number	3
Pages (from-to)	329-346
Number of pages	18
ISSN	2198-9613
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1515/css-2015-0017
Publication status	Published - 1 Aug 2015

Keywords

Faculty of Humanities
Charles S. Peirce
cognitive type
collateral experience
molar content
nuclear type
Umberto Eco

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10.1515/css-2015-0017

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Dynamics of the Collateral Encyclopedia

Abstract

Keywords

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