We’ve already discussed the Simplified Classification of Peirce, which is a part of a more complex classification method. A classification method that is seldom used.
Even Charles Sanders Peirce himself acknowledges that, despite the complexity of his classification system, he most frequently relied on the triadic categories of Icon, Index, and Symbol.
Let’s recall that, according to Peirce, the process of a sign is inherently triadic, involving a Representamen (the first element, which represents), an Object (the second element, what is being represented), and an Interpretant (the third element, the thought or interpretation through which the Representamen refers to the Object). This triadic relationship unfolds across three “planes” that correspond to Peirce’s logical understanding of three distinct realms:
- Reality – the world as it actually exists.
- Possibility – the world as it could potentially be.
- Necessity – the world as it should or must be.
Peirce refers to these realms as Firstness (the realm of possibilities), Secondness (the realm of actualities), and Thirdness (the realm of laws and generalizations).
Richard Martin effectively summarizes Peirce’s thinking in a single sentence: “Thought (which represents Thirdness) comprehends existing things (which are Secondness) as the realization of possibilities (which are Firstness).”
Peirce argues that the structure of a sign should be understood in the context of semiosis as a combination of these triadic relationships (between Representamen, Object, and Interpretant) and the trichotomy between Firstness, Secondness, and Thirdness. This makes the semiotic process both triadic and trichotomic, turning the model of sign structure into a three-dimensional form, often conceptualized as a hollow pyramid formed by the intersection of the three planes of Firstness, Secondness, and Thirdness.
In this framework, each element of the triad (Representamen, Object, and Interpretant) is analyzed both within its own “plane” and in relation to the other planes, resulting in various types and subtypes of signs. In a manuscript from 1903, Peirce even discusses the existence of 10 classes of signs. This raises the question of whether such complexity is necessary and what it actually contributes to scientific understanding.
For many years, scholars from the semiotic centers in Bloomington, USA, and Perpignan, France, have adhered to Peirce’s triadic trichotomy, conducting rigorous research that, while respected in academic circles, has seen limited practical application.
