The artistic sign as icon in Charles S. Peirce
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.1980-4016.esse.2025.238117Keywords:
Peirce, Aesthetics, Art, IconAbstract
This article aims to explore the notion of artistic sign in Charles S. Peirce. Peirce’s aesthetics is characterized by the pursuit of what is admirable in itself, and beauty appears to him as a final end that is only possible when a balance is achieved between sensible qualities and reasonableness — or, in terms of Peirce’s categories, between Firstness and Thirdness. From this perspective, the artistic sign, for Peirce, is one in which something that transcends it is embodied. It is neither true nor false, but rather represents its object as a sign of mere possibility. It has the expressive character typical of icons, reflecting a likeness that is not understood as a criterion of external adequacy, but as a reflection of the sensations the artist seeks to convey. The icon appears as a type of sign broad enough to serve the novelty and plurality of art.
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