Peircean Sign Theory

Peircean Sign Theory, developed by Charles Sanders Peirce, explains how we understand signs and symbols. According to Peirce, a sign is anything that represents something else, and it functions through three components: the "representamen" (the sign itself), the "interpretant" (the meaning derived from the sign), and the "object" (what the sign refers to). For example, a red light is a sign (representamen) that means "stop" (interpretant) and it relates to the actual action of stopping (object). This theory highlights the dynamic relationship between signs and meaning in communication and perception.