ABSTRACT
Peirce’s most important contribution to architecture and the arts, as well as digital interaction design (De Souza and Barbosa 2006; Wood 2016) is his theory of signs, semiotics. According to Alfred Nöth’s extensive Handbook of Semiotics, the story of semiotics spans from Plato (428 bc–348 bc) to the twentieth century (Nöth 1990). Ancient and religious literature often referred to signs, symbols, symptoms and naming, but semiotics as a study only came to light as scholars began to discuss and debate such ideas. For example, Plato expressed his suspicion of signs (which he referred to as ‘names’). He said about things that exist ‘it is far better to investigate them and learn about them through themselves than to do so through their names’ (Plato 1997: 154). Aristotle, and ancient philosophers such as the Stoics and the Epicureans, continued to debate the role of signs in the relationship between the human and the world.Peirce’s most important contribution to architecture and the arts, is his theory of signs, semiotics.
