Quote by Umberto Eco, Theory of Semiotics
Semiotics is concerned with everything that can be taken as a sign. A sign is everything which can be taken as significantly substituting for something else. This something else does not necessarily have to exist or to actually be somewhere at the moment in which a sign stands in for it. Thus semiotics is in principle the discipline studying everything which can be used in order to lie. If something cannot be used to tell a lie, conversely it cannot be used to tell the truth; it cannot in fact be used 'to tell' at all. I think that the definition of a 'theory of the lie' should be taken as a pretty comprehensive program for a general semiotics.
Summary
This quote by French linguist and semiotician Roland Barthes highlights the scope and significance of semiotics as a discipline. Semiotics is concerned with signs and how they operate in communication. According to Barthes, a sign can be anything that is taken as a substitute for something else, regardless of whether that something else actually exists or is present. Semiotics encompasses the study of everything that can be used for deception or truth-telling. Barthes suggests that a theory of the lie can serve as a comprehensive framework for understanding semiotics as a whole.
Topics
Deception/lying
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