MAIN TRENDS IN THE STUDY OF THE INDEX SIGN: FROM THE "PARADIGM OF CONTIGUITY" TO THE "PARADIGM OF COMPLEMENTATION"

Abstract

One of the defining trends of modern science of signs is the search for opportunities for further practical use of semiotic ideas, concepts and notions of Charles Sanders Peirce. Along with attempts to apply these ideas within the framework of research on the problem of consciousness, avant-garde theater, cinema and epistemic logic, one of the promising options for the development of the philosopher's creative heritage is an in-depth study of the essence, functions and possibilities of the indexical sign. An important component of such work is not only a detailed analysis of Peirce's understanding of this sign, but also tracking the main trends in its study in subsequent research literature.
According to the philosopher, the most important defining features of an index are: the presence of a causal relationship between the representamen and the object; its ability to direct attention to this object; the possible absence of a recipient; pointing to the singular and specific; the absence of a descriptive component and similarity between the representamen and the object.
In the research literature devoted to the study of Peirce's index, two approaches can be distinguished, which can be conditionally defined as the "paradigm of contiguity" and the "paradigm of complementation". A feature of the first paradigm is the focus on a detailed analysis of the main features of the index in a comparative comparison with its main examples, as well as critical remarks regarding the causal component of this type of sign. Within the second paradigm, based on the understanding of the index in the context of the structure of the judgment, an attempt is made to analyze its potential varieties and consider informational possibilities.
Despite important critical remarks regarding the possibilities of index definition, the first approach has a number of shortcomings, namely: the inability to cover all variants of the index, ignoring its connections with other types of signs and insufficient attention to informational possibilities. Partial resolution of these shortcomings occurred within the framework of the “paradigm of complementation”. Thus, the iconic component, informational possibilities and cause-and-effect relationships of such indexical variants of this paradigm as “Sub-index” and “Precept” are under some doubt.