Materialistic Semiotics and Social Reality

This book features a series of essays by six authors, four of which now classics, in the field of philosophy of language and semiotics, and significantly edited and added to by the volume editor. Collectively, the book provides a powerful sign theory able to investigate how things work, their sense, and their meaning. The expanding global world is our social reality, supported and generated by signs, verbal and nonverbal. This book explains an expression that circulates in everyday language: ‘materialism’. Misunderstandings and disagreements are abundant regarding its use and meaning, even in special languages – that of politics or other sciences concerned with the historical-social reality. In order to clear up these misunderstandings and disagreements, this collection outlines a materialistic approach to problems relevant to signs and society, contemporary and historical, building towards a scientifically based materialistic semiotics. It is therefore of great interest to a broad audience, including those interested in semiotics, linguistics, philosophy of language, communication studies, cultural studies and peace studies.