In recent years, the notion of gesture has gained some prominence in the philosophical world, sometimes starting from a pragmatist background, sometimes not. However, any author referring to the concept eventually must deal with the views of the pragmatists. These authors include Barbara Formis, who founded a “laboratoire du geste” at the University of Paris 1 in 2009 (begun in 2006 as a website), tackling the notion of gesture from an aesthetical perspective; Maurizio Ferraris in Italy has used the notion of gesture in his thinking about technology; and Irene Mittelberg and Alexander Gerner have edited a book on gesture as an epistemic tool. Gerner has explored the idea of gesture for its semiotic implications in treating schizophrenia. In Italy, a couple of long seminars and one new book focuses on gesture from a political and economic perspective – Matteo Santarelli and Guido Baggio are the leading Italian scholars in this area. I contributed my own book looking at gesture from an epistemic standpoint, The Philosophy of Gesture. Also studies on Mead, such as Roberta Dreon’s most recent papers, have put a new emphasis on gesture. Outside the realm of philosophy, the pragmatist view of gesture has been treated by Esa Kirkkopelto in his studies on theater, and also by artists of various stripes, mathematicians, and people involved in the development of communication and technology. What is offered to philosophy and other disciplines by the notion of gesture? Why should time and effort be spent in clarifying the term? The answer to this question is suggested first by the French philosophy of mathematics, in particular in the work of Jean Cavaillès (section I). A second important clue comes from Peirce’s philosophy and, in particular, from his semiotic research on Existential Graphs (section II). These two parts will form the core of this article, and in the conclusion I will attempt to answer the question and to suggest new roads of inquiry (section III).
Maddalena, G. (2018). Gestures, Peirce, and the French philosophy of mathematics. LEBENSWELT, 13, 67-76.
Gestures, Peirce, and the French philosophy of mathematics
maddalena g.
2018
Abstract
In recent years, the notion of gesture has gained some prominence in the philosophical world, sometimes starting from a pragmatist background, sometimes not. However, any author referring to the concept eventually must deal with the views of the pragmatists. These authors include Barbara Formis, who founded a “laboratoire du geste” at the University of Paris 1 in 2009 (begun in 2006 as a website), tackling the notion of gesture from an aesthetical perspective; Maurizio Ferraris in Italy has used the notion of gesture in his thinking about technology; and Irene Mittelberg and Alexander Gerner have edited a book on gesture as an epistemic tool. Gerner has explored the idea of gesture for its semiotic implications in treating schizophrenia. In Italy, a couple of long seminars and one new book focuses on gesture from a political and economic perspective – Matteo Santarelli and Guido Baggio are the leading Italian scholars in this area. I contributed my own book looking at gesture from an epistemic standpoint, The Philosophy of Gesture. Also studies on Mead, such as Roberta Dreon’s most recent papers, have put a new emphasis on gesture. Outside the realm of philosophy, the pragmatist view of gesture has been treated by Esa Kirkkopelto in his studies on theater, and also by artists of various stripes, mathematicians, and people involved in the development of communication and technology. What is offered to philosophy and other disciplines by the notion of gesture? Why should time and effort be spent in clarifying the term? The answer to this question is suggested first by the French philosophy of mathematics, in particular in the work of Jean Cavaillès (section I). A second important clue comes from Peirce’s philosophy and, in particular, from his semiotic research on Existential Graphs (section II). These two parts will form the core of this article, and in the conclusion I will attempt to answer the question and to suggest new roads of inquiry (section III).I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
