Full Description
Theories and practices of signification have flourished across space and time. This book examines premodern thinking on signs in ancient Greek philosophy, Chinese divination, Islamic theology, Hebrew epistemology, medieval Latin logic, South Asian language theory, and early modern European artificial languages. Each chapter analyzes and contextualizes key primary sources presented in their original language and English translation, offering rich resources for comparative analysis of approaches to semiosis in religious and scholarly exegesis, prognostication, and the philosophical search for distinctions between natural and artificial signs. The volume brings to light both universal concerns and unique cultural features that shaped the evolution of semiotics.
Contents
Acknowledgments
List of Figures
Notes on Contributors
General Introduction
Maria Auxent and Glenn W. Most
1 Sign and Signification in Ancient Greece
Glenn W. Most
2 Signs and Signification in Chinese Divination
Michael Lackner
3 Names as Signs in Classical Islam
Hannah C. Erlwein
4 Judaism: Signifying God according to Maimonides
Yehuda Halper
5 Signs and Signification in Latin Medieval Philosophy
Dominic Dold
6 Words and Signs in the Vernacular in Sanskrit
Eric Moses Gurevitch
7 Artificial Signs and Signification in Early Modern Europe
Maria Auxent
Appendix
Bibliography
Index
