Search

[English Version] I. Religionswissenschaftlich S. bez. die hist. v.a. auf Ch.S. Peirce und Ferdinand de Saussures (s.u. II. und IV.) zurückgehende syst. Analyse der Zeichen (griech. σημει˜οn̆/sēmeíon) sowie deren Wahrnehmen und Verstehen durch den menschlichen Geist. Zeichen im semiotischen Sinne kann jede anwesende physische oder psychische Entität sein, die in der Lage ist, für eine abwesende zu stehen. Das Zeichen wird konstituiert durch die Verknüpfung zweier Elemente, des Signifikanten bzw. Bezeichnenden mit dem Si…

[German Version] I. Terminology The term sign usually means something perceptible to the senses that signifies something else, which gives it its specific meaning. In theological and philosophical usage, it differs from the term symbol (Symbols), although the latter is sometimes used synonymously with sign in semiotics and mathematics as well as in logic. While Aristotle used the term σημεῖον/ sēmeíon in various contexts – including his theory of conclusions –,Augustine of Hippo associated the theory of signs more closely with the theory of language (Phi…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies Semiotics, a discipline inaugurated primarily by C.S. Peirce and Ferdinand de Saussure (see II and IV below), is the systematic analysis of signs (Gk σημεῖον/ sēmeíon) and the way the human mind perceives and understands them. A sign in the sense of semiotics can be any present physical or mental entity that is in a position to stand for an entity not present. A sign is constituted by the conjunction of two elements, the signifier and the signified. In religious studies, semiotics examin…

[German Version] I. Philosophy Realism in a given area B means the ontological thesis that names or terms used in a theory of B refer to things that exist independently of human thought. For example, in natural realism the existence of stones, trees, and ¶ tables is assumed; in scientific realism, that of electrons, force fields, and quarks (see V below); in mathematical realism, that of numbers and quantities; or in ethical realism, that of moral values. Critics of realism object, for example, that moral values are an expression of value…