"Basics of Semiotics".
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By Gary Fuhrman
TOP 50 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
As other reviewers have noted, this is not a book to choose for a first approach to semiotics. Rather it's a study of the conceptual basics of the field, considered in the context of intellectual history. Deely's point of view grows out of his deep knowledge of philosophy, especially that of the medieval period, and his penetrating study of Peirce.
When i ordered this book from Amazon, what i received was the first edition (Indiana University Press, 1990) -- although it's listed here as "St. Augustine's Press (January 2004)". After getting in touch with the author, i realized that this was not a mistake on Amazon's part: the book has gone through several editions since the first, but none of them are (so far) available from North American booksellers; the only one published in English is the 4th edition, published by Tartu University Press in Estonia. Until that one is obtainable on this side of the pond, this first edition is still worth buying at the price, because it is a very deep study of what semiotics is all about. -- And contrary to what one reviewer said, it *does* structure most of its argument around specific examples. So it is quite readable, though certainly not easy reading, even if you have little or no background in Peircean semiotics.
When i ordered this book from Amazon, what i received was the first edition (Indiana University Press, 1990) -- although it's listed here as "St. Augustine's Press (January 2004)". After getting in touch with the author, i realized that this was not a mistake on Amazon's part: the book has gone through several editions since the first, but none of them are (so far) available from North American booksellers; the only one published in English is the 4th edition, published by Tartu University Press in Estonia. Until that one is obtainable on this side of the pond, this first edition is still worth buying at the price, because it is a very deep study of what semiotics is all about. -- And contrary to what one reviewer said, it *does* structure most of its argument around specific examples. So it is quite readable, though certainly not easy reading, even if you have little or no background in Peircean semiotics.
Format:Paperback
I hoped this book would give me an understanding of semiotics from the point of view of classical and scholastic metaphysics. Certainly John Deely has the learning to do this. But I found this book largely unreadable. Long, long sentences. Clause piled upon clause. No examples. No contact with the world of experience. If he were my student, I would force him to write out, in one page, using short sentences, just what he wanted to say. But alas, he has passed that stage. I haven't found the book I sought, but this is not that book.
Format:Paperback
I'll confess my bias here. I like not just facts or data, but key concepts or ideas--and this book has them, in spades. BUT I also like concrete material--specific examples, actual instances. Such illustrations of ideas, help me (1) comprehend the concepts, (2) see the crucial importance or "so-what" the difference the concepts make to some exigency, (3) to see how to apply or use the concepts, and (4) to read with more lively interest. And so, here's to the happy blending of the idea and the instance. ("Poetry is abstraction blooded.")
Unfortunately, many academic treatises float in the abstract stratosphere without ever descending to an earth-like instance.
This book is, alas, no exception. I clambered through the aerial crags of concept after concept (and no sense WHY this matters), and found only ONE specific example.
That of--a "thermometer." That's right--and I'm not even sure to what point....
Fortunately I discovered Semiotics for Beginners, by Daniel Chandler. "You could, too."
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