Eco, Peirce, and Iconism

The essay \u2013 published in one of the latest volumes of the \u201cLibrary of Living Philosophers\u201d - surveys the entire Eco\u2019s production regarding the theme of iconism. The problem of iconism and of the iconic sign is analysed throughout Eco\u2019s bibliography, from La struttura assente to Kant and the Platypus and further on. The Italian debate on iconism in the \u201870s is considered, as well. Eco turned from a totally conventionalist view to a more mitigated one, where he brings attention to the realism of perception and tries to distinguish the threshold of a \u201cprimary iconism.\u201d The idea of the threshold, of the \u201cedge of semiosis,\u201d below which a quale is perceived as pertinent or not, thus becomes crucial. On this basis I take in consideration Peirce\u2019s position comparing it with Eco\u2019s one, in its difference and analogies