Frances to Cheerskep... Let me leave aside for now giving my guess at the meaning of the term "sign" at least as it is used in semiotics, which will however be a welcome exercise in due course. 1. GLOBAL, FINITE To deal with the term "global" it is my tentative and temporary attempt at finding a suitable umbrella term under which would fall the tridential concepts of "general" and "special" and "universal" as its species or kinds of a thing being global. For example, if a thing is say common throughout an arena or venue like a trade or a city or even a country, then it is global but only within that relatively narrow ground that is definitely special. Aligned with what may be "global" is what may be "finite" and its correlated concepts of infinite and definite and indefinite. For example, if a thing is say common throughout a sphere or realm like a culture or social institution or university or scholarly field of academic study, then it is global but only within that indefinite universe of discourse. Of course, if a thing is infinitely global in the broadest manner, then it is general to the whole wide world, including its additive application to grounds that are special and universal. The term "global" used in this way is admittedly clumsy for me, because it often refers to things on just the planet earth, but it will have to do for now. It is like an empty class holder, ready to be filled with members as needed. It has been very useful to me in my study of metaphysical phenomena. If other readers on this list have some suggestions for another term, then please advise me. The alternative may also be to drop the need for a genus term altogether. Another related thorn for me is to define exactly what "generals" and "specials" and "universals" in fact actually are. For example, the semiotic terms in the tern of "icons" and "indexes" and "symbols" are signs. 2. MEANING, TRUTH, SIGN To seek "the full meaning and truth of a sign" is to relate or compare such meaning and truth to that which is most like the pure meaning and truth of exact mathematics, which goal of course can only be attempted by humans and then only by using signs, but which ideal can never be attained. The full meaning and truth of a sign is thus a degraded or degenerative version of those mathematical and logical ideals that may be felt and found to exist continually in the world. 3. RELATIVE, GROUND If several minds agree together on the final meaning and truth of a sign, then that somewhat fixed meaning and truth and sign will exist objectively yet relatively outside their subjectively collective minds, but only within a relational relative ground whereby the objective is connected with the subjective. It is like the subjective mind and its objective matter being linked in the relative ground of earth. The contact and exchange and agreement among minds in a common ground will make the notion as signs held in each mind of the group an "objective relative" fact.
Cheerskep partly wrote... What is your notion of a 'sign' and of 'global'? What did you have in mind when you said 'the full meaning and truth of a sign'?"
