Tag Archives: Semiotics

Unknown's avatar Jon Awbrey 7:20 am on November 5, 2025
Tags: , Comprehension, Constraint, , , Extension, Form, Indication, , , , , , , Semiotics, , Structure, Systems Theory,   

Survey of Definition and Determination • 4

In the early 1990s, “in the middle of life’s journey” as the saying goes, I returned to grad school in a systems engineering program with the idea of taking a more systems-theoretic approach to my development of Peircean themes, from signs and scientific inquiry to logic and information theory.

Two of the first questions calling for fresh examination were the closely related concepts of definition and determination, not only as Peirce used them in his logic and semiotics but as researchers in areas as diverse as computer science, cybernetics, physics, and systems science would find themselves forced to reconsider the concepts in later years.  That led me to collect a sample of texts where Peirce and a few other writers discuss the issues of definition and determination.  There are copies of those selections at the following sites.

What follows is a Survey of blog and wiki posts on Definition and Determination, with a focus on the part they play in Peirce’s interlinked theories of signs, information, and inquiry.  In classical logical traditions the concepts of definition and determination are closely related and their bond acquires all the more force when we view the overarching concept of constraint from an information-theoretic point of view, as Peirce did beginning in the 1860s.

Blog Dialogs

cc: FB | Inquiry Driven Systems • Laws of Form • Mathstodon • Academia.edu
cc: Conceptual Graphs • Cybernetics • Structural Modeling • Systems Science

#c-s-peirce, #comprehension, #constraint, #definition, #determination, #extension, #form, #indication, #information, #information-comprehension-x-extension, #inquiry-driven-systems, #logic, #mathematics, #scientific-method, #semiotics, #sign-relations, #structure, #systems-theory, #visualization

Unknown's avatar Jon Awbrey 12:12 pm on November 4, 2025
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Semiotics, , , , ,   

Survey of Cybernetics • 5

Again, in a ship, if a man were at liberty to do what he chose, but were devoid of mind and excellence in navigation (αρετης κυβερνητικης), do you perceive what must happen to him and his fellow sailors?

— Plato • Alcibiades • 135 A

This is a Survey of blog posts relating to Cybernetics.  It includes the selections from Ashby’s Introduction and the comment on them I’ve posted so far, plus two series of reflections on the governance of social systems in light of cybernetic and semiotic principles.

Anthem

Ashby’s Introduction to Cybernetics

  • Chapter 11 • Requisite Variety

Blog Series

  • Theory and Therapy of Representations • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4) • (5)

cc: FB | Inquiry Driven Systems • Laws of Form • Mathstodon • Academia.edu
cc: Conceptual Graphs • Cybernetics • Structural Modeling • Systems Science

#abduction, #c-s-peirce, #communication, #control, #cybernetics, #deduction, #determination, #discovery, #doubt, #epistemology, #fixation-of-belief, #induction, #information, #information-comprehension-x-extension, #information-theory, #inquiry, #inquiry-driven-systems, #inquiry-into-inquiry, #interpretation, #invention, #knowledge, #learning-theory, #logic, #logic-of-relatives, #logic-of-science, #mathematics, #peirce, #philosophy, #philosophy-of-science, #pragmatic-information, #probable-reasoning, #process-thinking, #relation-theory, #scientific-inquiry, #scientific-method, #semeiosis, #semiosis, #semiotic-information, #semiotics, #sign-relational-manifolds, #sign-relations, #surveys, #triadic-relations, #uncertainty

Unknown's avatar Jon Awbrey 12:08 pm on November 3, 2025
Tags: , Adaptive Systems, , , , , , Cognitive Science, , , Educational Systems Design, Educational Technology, , , , , , , Intelligent Systems, , , , , Mental Models, , Semiotics, , ,   

Survey of Inquiry Driven Systems • 7

This is a Survey of work in progress on Inquiry Driven Systems, material I plan to refine toward a more compact and systematic treatment of the subject.

An inquiry driven system is a system having among its state variables some representing its state of information with respect to various questions of interest, for example, its own state and the states of potential object systems.  Thus it has a component of state tracing a trajectory though an information state space.

Anthem

Elements

Background

Blog Series

  • Pragmatic Cosmos • (1)

Blog Dialogs

  • Architectonics of Inquiry • (1)

Developments

Applications

  • Conceptual Barriers to Creating Integrative Universities
    (Abstract) (Online)
  • Interpretation as Action • The Risk of Inquiry
    (Journal) (doc) (pdf)
  • An Architecture for Inquiry • Building Computer Platforms for Discovery
    (Online)
  • Exploring Research Data Interactively • Theme One : A Program of Inquiry
    (Online)

cc: FB | Inquiry Driven Systems • Laws of Form • Mathstodon • Academia.edu
cc: Conceptual Graphs • Cybernetics • Structural Modeling • Systems Science

#abduction, #adaptive-systems, #analogy, #animata, #artificial-intelligence, #automated-research-tools, #c-s-peirce, #cognitive-science, #cybernetics, #deduction, #educational-systems-design, #educational-technology, #fixation-of-belief, #induction, #information-theory, #inquiry, #inquiry-driven-systems, #inquiry-into-inquiry, #intelligent-systems, #interpretation, #logic, #logic-of-science, #mathematics, #mental-models, #pragmatic-maxim, #semiotics, #sign-relations, #triadic-relations, #visualization

Unknown's avatar Jon Awbrey 11:00 am on November 2, 2025
Tags: , , , , Dewey, , , , , , , Inference, , , , , , , Morphism, Paradigmata, Paradigms, Pattern Recognition, , , , Pragmatism, , , Semiotics, , , Syllogism, ,   

Survey of Abduction, Deduction, Induction, Analogy, Inquiry • 5

This is a Survey of blog and wiki posts on three elementary forms of inference, as recognized by a logical tradition extending from Aristotle through Charles S. Peirce.  Particular attention is paid to the way the inferential rudiments combine to form the more complex patterns of analogy and inquiry.

Anthem

Blog Dialogs

Blog Series

Blog Surveys

OEIS Wiki

Ontolog Forum

cc: FB | Inquiry Driven Systems • Laws of Form • Mathstodon • Academia.edu
cc: Conceptual Graphs • Cybernetics • Structural Modeling • Systems Science

#abduction, #aristotle, #c-s-peirce, #deduction, #dewey, #discovery, #doubt, #fixation-of-belief, #functional-logic, #icon-index-symbol, #induction, #inference, #information, #inquiry, #invention, #logic, #logic-of-science, #mathematics, #morphism, #paradigmata, #paradigms, #pattern-recognition, #peirce, #philosophy, #pragmatic-maxim, #pragmatism, #scientific-inquiry, #scientific-method, #semiotics, #sign-relations, #surveys, #syllogism, #triadic-relations, #visualization