Edwina, Gary, and Jon, ET
So, rather than saying that a single bacterium 'has' a quasi-mind, I'd consider that bacterium to be a semiosic materialization of Mind. The brain is not the same as Mind.
Peirce would certainly agree that the brain is not the same as mind, and so would I. But when Peirce coined the term 'quasi-mind', I believe that he was recognizing the continuum of life forms from bacteria to mammals, humans, and perhaps beyond. He also related the origin of the first genuine Thirdness to the origin of life. That would imply that the earliest marks could not be interpreted as signs until some minds or quasi-minds came along. But because of the finite speed of light, many of those early marks can be interpreted by intelligent beings with powerful telescopes. GR
While 'Mark' is probably an improvement on 'Qualisign', it strikes me as suggesting something more existential (so, relating more to 2ns than to 1ns) than an alternative term Peirce also used, namely, "Tone."
JAS
it is fresh in my mind that [JFS] prefers "mark" to "tone" because of the latter's auditory connotation.
I agree with Jon. Also note Peirce's letter to Lady Welby (EP 2.488) where Peirce writes "I formerly called a Potisign Tinge or Tone". Then at the bottom of the page, he writes "I think Potisign Actisign Famisign might be called Mark Token Type(?)" That seems to be his last word on the topic (unless anyone can find a later MS). Note that he formerly used two words 'tinge' for a visual qualisign or 'tone' for an auditory qualisign. But he seems to use 'mark' for both. In English, the word 'mark' is more general, since one could say "Mark my words" -- in which the words could be spoken, written, or merely contemplated. GR
'Assertion' seems to me to gloss over the distinction between a 'Proposition' and an 'Assertion'...
There is a huge difference between a proposition that is quoted and contemplated, and a proposition that is used to communicate. The reason why I used the word 'assertion' is that the table for the triple trichotomy had the phrase "A sign of actual existence" in that box. That seemed to suggest a proposition that was used to assert the existence of something. However, I went to check EP 2.292, where I found the following phrase: "a Dicisign or Dicent sign (that is, a proposition or a quasi-proposition)". That is clear evidence that Peirce intended "proposition". Therefore, I'll revise that table (and the article signs.pdf) to replace 'assertion' with 'proposition'. I'll post a new version tomorrow. Thanks for the comment. John
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