Eco, Peirce, and Iconism

The essay – published in one of the latest volumes of the “Library of Living Philosophers” - surveys the entire Eco’s production regarding the theme of iconism. The problem of iconism and of the iconic sign is analysed throughout Eco’s bibliography, from La struttura assente to Kant and the Platypus and further on. The Italian debate on iconism in the ‘70s 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 “primary iconism.” The idea of the threshold, of the “edge of semiosis,” below which a quale is perceived as pertinent or not, thus becomes crucial. On this basis I take in consideration Peirce’s position comparing it with Eco’s one, in its difference and analogies.