Economics Dictionary of Arguments

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Signs: signs are recognizable and definable forms that an observer can assign to two domains. The first domain is the repertoire of available forms that allows a distinction of similarity and dissimilarity within this domain, the second domain is a set of objects which also distinguishes between similarity and dissimilarity between these objects as well as distinguishing the objects of the second domain from the forms of the first domain. There are no signs without observation or interpretation. See also language, words, symbols, icons, systems, image, image theory, pictures, assignment.
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Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments.

 
Author Concept Summary/Quotes Sources

Plato on Signs - Dictionary of Arguments

Gadamer I 416
Signs/Plato/Gadamer: If the area of the logos represents the area of the noetic in the multiplicity of its assignments, then the word, just like the number, becomes a mere sign of a well-defined and thus pre-conscious being.
>Logos/Plato
, >Word/Plato.
Thus, in principle, the question is reversed. Now, the question is no longer asked from the point of view of the being and the being in the middle of the word, but from the means of the word to the question of what and how it conveys something, namely to the person who uses it. The essence of the sign is that it has its being in its function of use, and that in such a way that its suitability lies
Gadamer I 417
alone in pointing out.
It must therefore stand out in this function from the environment in which it is to be found and taken as a sign, in order to abolish its own thing and to dissolve (disappear) in its meaning. It is the abstraction of reference itself. The sign is therefore nothing that asserts its own content. Nor does it need to have a similarity with what it points to, and if it does, it may only be a schematic one. That means, however, that once again all visible intrinsic content is reduced to a minimum, which is able to assist its function of referring.
>Word/Plato, >Logos/Plato.
Meaning/Pointing out: Marks, badges, signs, omens, portents, etc. have spirituality in so far as they are taken as signs, i.e. abstracted from their referentiality. The sign existence here consists only of something else, which as a sign thing is at the same time something in itself and has its own meaning, another than what it means as sign. In such a case, the following applies: the sign meaning is only assigned to the signs in the relationship to a sign-taking subject;
Sign/Hegel: "(...) it does not have its absolute meaning in itself, i.e. the subject is not suspended in it"(1)
Gadamer: It is still immediate being. It still has its existence in its connection with other beings. The difference between its being and its meaning is an absolute.
Image/Sign/Plato/Gadamer: The matter is different with the opposite extreme that plays into the definition of the word: the image. The image certainly contains the same contradiction of its being and its meaning, but in such a way that it eliminates this contradiction in itself, precisely because of the similarity that lies within it. It gains its function of reference or representation not from the sign taking subject, but from its own material content. It's not just a sign.

1. Hegel, Jenenser Realphilosophie I, 210. (Now in vol. 6 of the Ges. Werke, Jenaer
Systementwürfe I, Hamburg 1975, p. 287.)

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Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments
The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition.

Gadamer I
Hans-Georg Gadamer
Wahrheit und Methode. Grundzüge einer philosophischen Hermeneutik 7. durchgesehene Auflage Tübingen 1960/2010

Gadamer II
H. G. Gadamer
The Relevance of the Beautiful, London 1986
German Edition:
Die Aktualität des Schönen: Kunst als Spiel, Symbol und Fest Stuttgart 1977


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