Are Specular Images Signs? by Fabio Bacchini

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http://doi.org/10.332.34/SSR.20.1

ARE SPECULAR IMAGES SIGNS?

Fabio Bacchini

University of Sassari, Italy

Abstract

In this paper I address the question whether specular images are signs, that is, whether mirror phenomena possess a semiosic status. The general semiotic theoretical framework I refer to is the one developed by Umberto Eco (1976; 1984; 1999). Although Eco himself invariantly answered the question I raise by the negative, I explore the issue independently of his conclusion.

In section 1, I show why it is not the case that all specular images are signs on all occasions. In section 2, I argue that specular images are signs only under specific conditions. In section 3, I cope with a couple of doubts that can be raised about the legitimacy of considering specular images as signs even under the specific conditions I have identified. Finally, in section 4, I deal with Eco’s main objection against considering specular images as signs, and I show that this objection can easily be dismissed with regards to the thesis I advance here. My conclusion is that some though not all specular images are definitely signs.