Mapping Intellectual Genealogy in Semiotics: Investigating Indian Analogues of Peirce’s Icon, Index, and Symbol in Classical Philosophy

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 School of Philosophy & Culture Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, Jammu, India.

2 Head of Department, Department of Philosophy, Government P.G. College, Agasyamuni, Rudraprayag , Uttarakhand

Abstract

This paper undertakes a comparative investigation into the semiotic architectures of Charles Sanders Peirce and classical Indian linguistic philosophy to trace the conceptual affinities and divergences underlying their theories of signification. Peirce’s trichotomy of Icon, Index, and Symbol, grounded in the metaphysical categories of Firstness, Secondness, and Thirdness, establishes meaning as a triadic and mediational process dependent on convention and interpretation. In contrast, Indian semantics articulated through the theories of Abhidhā (denotation), Lakṣaṇā (indication), Gauṇī (metaphor), Dhvani (suggestion), and Sphoṭa (linguistic totality) developed intricate analyses of linguistic relation (saṃbandha) and expressive power (śakti), yet operated within a fundamentally dyadic model of signification grounded in eternal, natural relations between word and meaning. The study argues that Indian theories anticipated Peirce’s lower dyad of Icon and Index through Gauṇī and Lakṣaṇā, which correspond to relations of likeness and contiguity, respectively. However, the emergence of the Symbol, representing Peirce’s Thirdness convention, mediation, and social law was metaphysically precluded by the Mīmāṃsā doctrine of the Veda’s authorlessness (apauruṣeyatva) and the inherent word–meaning relation (svābhāvika śakti). Later innovations such as Dhvani and Sphoṭa attempted to reintroduce the missing interpretive dimension but did so within a naturalized rather than conventional framework. By mapping these correspondences and constraints, the paper situates Peirce within a broader intercultural genealogy of semiotic thought and reinterprets Indian linguistic philosophy as a profound yet metaphysically distinct precursor to modern semiotics.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Send comment about this article
CAPTCHA Image
Journal of Philosophical Investigations

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 08 April 2026

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics