Charles Sanders Peirce

About Him• September 10, 1839 – April 19, 1914• Scientist for 30 years• American philosopher, logician,

mathematician, and scientist who is sometimes known as "the father of pragmatism".

• Founder of formal branch semiotics

What he is Known for• Pierce contributed to the study of signs and semiotics• He solely focused on how language and linguistics

dominated the way humans thought and acted. He identified 3 main categories of signs: Iconic, indexical and symbolic.

• Iconic: A sign that represents something else. e.g. A photograph of something isn't actually that thing but it creates the thought of that thing.

• Indexical: A sign that has a direct link to something else. E.g. a drawing of something is used instead of writing it in a language, but is still understood just as much.

• Symbolic: Formal signs are used to indicate meaning. E.g. a cigarette with a cross indicating a non smoking area.

Examples of Iconic signs

Examples of Indexical signs

Examples of Symbolic signs