Article

Il rapporto tra icone, indici e percezione attraverso le riflessioni di Peirce sulla fotografia / The Relation between Icons, Indices, and Perception in Peirce’s Remarks on Photography

in Versus n. 120, Peirceana three. Sull’iconismo / On Iconism, pp.79-91

Abstract (english)

Peirce’s remarks on photography have long been central to the semiotic debate on the nature of the photographical sign. This article aims to show how for Peirce photography was never a subject of investigation in itself, but an instrument to foster and clarify some aspects of his semiotic investigations. We first investigate Brunet’s notion of collateral knowledge. Secondly, we discuss Peirce’s metaphor of composite photograph, through which he deals with the dialectic between icons and indices in human perception. Finally, we discuss the example of neuroimaging. We conclude from our analysis that Peirce’s remarks on photography can prove to be profitable to research on human cognition.