Supplement: It is a question of outsourcing or insourcing. What do we want. Do we want to keep the form of EGs as they are, then we outsource the question of reflection. But do we want to have some more fun, or, eh, work? Then why not insource the topic about reflection in some way. Peirce cannot.
List,
I think, that the "existential graphs" don´t have to do with existence in the first place, that is with things that do exist, or phenomena of the real world, but rather with semes(?) that origin in reflection, reflection of reflection, and so on. Do they exist? Are they real? Are they phenomena? I guess, every answer may be so constructed to give a "yes", and if the phenomenon merely exists in one head. A thought-sign by the thinker to the same thinker. It exists, ok, it is real, ok. But what do we gain from this generalisation? Nothing. So I propose to more and better analyse reflection, its nature, its different levels of representation, and so on. Some years ago there was a hype and high flying hopes about research about the brain and consciousness. Now there is nothing more of that left. I guess, the reason is, that too much focus was directed on the technical function of the brain, and not enough focus was directed on the nature of reflection. Reflection is tricky. If you think that you are thinking, you merely think that you are thinking, but in fact you think that you think that you are thinking, and forget to think. A think about a think makes the think fall in the sink. And with every "about" the time direction changes. EGs dont cover that. They dont tell the reflectional level of a proposition. Any proposition, no matter of what order, may be inserted. EGs are about nothing but reflection (not about existence, contradictory to their label), but do not show of which order the reflection is (reflection about a natural process, reflection about this reflection, reflection about this reflection...) Why not try to make them do? I can´t, too busy and too stupid anyway, so your turn.
Best, Helmut
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