The Methodological Influence of Peirce’s Pragmatism on Knowledge Organization

Abstract

Information and knowledge organization in Brazil has been historically influenced by theoretical linguistics. However, some aspects related to language theory and its interface with philosophy need to be further investigated, particularly the semiotic interpretation of information and knowledge organization processes. In order to advance a dialogue with the philosophy and semiotics of Charles Peirce , a theoretical and bibliographical study was carried out so as to understand and evaluate the contributions of the Peircean thought to information organization. It was found that several aspects of Peirce's work, viewed as a whole and not just semiotic concepts, suggest fundamental points to explain issues in information and knowledge organization. Basing on the analysis of Thellefsen's studies, this research presents some arguments aimed at reframing Peirce's pragmatism, which should no longer be mistakenly considered as a doctrine of practical results, but as a useful methodological approach for professionals dealing with knowledge organization in the field of Information Science.

Aspectos semióticos inherentes a la indización de los recursos de información

“…Entre ellas, se optó por el modelo de Peirce porque se adhiere a la función pragmática del signo en tanto que asocia el signo con un "alguien" que recupera el signo y le confiere un significado. Por demás, como señala Almeida (2012), la propuesta de Peirce posibilita establecer vínculos entre la ciencia de la información y la semiótica porque contiene elementos claves que las ciencias documentales contemplan en la organización y recuperación temática de los recursos de información. Se recuperaron sus elementos constitutivos, las definiciones asociadas a éstos y el flujo del proceso semiótico.…”

Pragmatic thought as a philosophical foundation for collaborative tagging and the Semantic Web

“…Not surprisingly, therefore, pragmatism has made occasional appearances in the LIS literature (e.g. Almeida, 2012; Dousa, 2010). Peirce’s work in logic and semiotics has also been cited in research about knowledge organization (e.g.…”