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Commens
Digital Companion to C. S. Peirce
Pure Icon
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1904 [c.] | New Elements (Kaina stoiceia) | EP 2:306

…a geometrical figure drawn on paper may be an icon of a triangle or other geometrical form. If one meets a man whose language one does not know and resorts to imitative sounds and gestures, these approach the charac­ter of an icon. The reason they are not pure icons is that the purpose of them is emphasized. A pure icon is independent of any purpose. It serves as a sign solely and simply by exhibiting the quality it serves to signify. The relation to its object is a degenerate relation. It asserts nothing. If it conveys informa­tion, it is only in the sense in which the object that it is used to represent may be said to convey information. An icon can only be a fragment of a completer sign.

Citation
‘Pure Icon’. Term in M. Bergman & S. Paavola (Eds.), The Commens Dictionary: Peirce's Terms in His Own Words. New Edition. Retrieved from http://www.commens.org/dictionary/term/pure-icon/page, 29.06.2022.
See also
Icon | Pure Index | Generalized Icon