Overview
Merrell's specific focus in this interdisciplinary study is the modernism/postmodernism dichotomy and Peirce's precocious realization that the world does not lend itself to the simplistic binarism of modernist thought. In Merrell's examination of postmodern phenomena, the reader is taken through various facets of the cognitive sciences, philosophy of science, mathematics, and literary theory. Throughout this work, Merrell. is scrupulously aware that we are participants within, not detached spectators of, our signs. We understand them while we interact with them, during which process we, and our signs as well, invariably undergo change.Synopsis
Merrell's specific focus in this interdisciplinary study is the modernism/postmodernism dichotomy and Peirce's precocious realization that the world does not lend itself to the simplistic binarism of modernist thought. In Merrell's examination of postmodern phenomena, the reader is taken through various facets of the cognitive sciences, philosophy of science, mathematics, and literary theory. Throughout this work, Merrell. is scrupulously aware that we are participants within, not detached spectators of, our signs. We understand them while we interact with them, during which process we, and our signs as well, invariably undergo change.
Booknews
Merrell's (Spanish, Purdue U.) study of postmodernism and the thought of Charles Sanders Pierce focuses on the modernism/postmodernism dichotomy and Pierce's realization that the world doesn't lend itself to the simplistic binarism of modern thought. Merrell examines postmodern phenomena through the lenses of the cognitive sciences, philosophy, mathematics, and literary theory, and considers in detail Pierce's concept of sign activity, a process by which a potentially infinite series of interpretants is generated. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)