Computational Semiotics

Description

Can semiotics and computers be compatible? Can computation advance semiotics by enhancing the scientific basis of the theory of signs? Coupling semiotics, a philosophical and phenomenological tradition concerned with theories of signs, with computation, a formal discipline, may seem controversial and paradoxical. Computational Semiotics tackles these controversies head-on and attempts to bridge this gap. Showing how semiotics can build the same type of conceptual, formal, and computational models as other scientific projects, this book opens up a rich domain of inquiry toward the formal understanding of semiotic artifacts and processes. Examining how pairing semiotics with computation can bring more methodological rigor and logical consistency to the epistemic quest for the forms and functions of meaning, without compromising the important interpretive dynamics of semiotics, this book offers a new cutting-edge, model-driven theory to the field.

Jean-Guy Meunier is Professor of Philosophy, Semiotics and Cognitive Science at the Universite du Quebec a Montreal, Canada, and Emeritus Member of the International Academy of Philosophy of Science (IAPS).

Jean-Guy Meunier gives readers the result of 50 years of research, by bringing together semiotics and computer science. It sheds light on contemporary debates on digital humanities, and offers keys to understanding the challenges of artificial intelligence. By making available various scientific and epistemological models, he allows to better understand contemporary scientific issues. * Julien Longhi, Full Professor of Discourse Analysis, CY Cergy Paris Universite, France *