Charles Sanders Peirce was an American philosopher, logician, mathematician, and scientist born in 1839 who is considered the founder of semiotics, the study of signs and symbols. He identified three main categories of signs: iconic signs that represent something through resemblance, like photographs; indexical signs that have a direct connection to what they signify, like smoke indicating fire; and symbolic signs that are arbitrarily assigned meanings, like words. Peirce contributed significantly to understanding how language and signs shape human thought and behavior.

1. Charles Sanders Peirce

2. About Him
• September 10, 1839 – April 19, 1914
• Scientist for 30 years
• American philosopher, logician,
mathematician, and scientist who is
sometimes known as "the father of
pragmatism".
• Founder of formal branch semiotics

3. What he is Known for
• Pierce contributed to the study of signs and semiotics
• He solely focused on how language and linguistics dominated
the way humans thought and acted. He identified 3 main
categories of signs: Iconic, indexical and symbolic.
• Iconic: A sign that represents something else. e.g. A
photograph of something isn't actually that thing but it
creates the thought of that thing.
• Indexical: A sign that has a direct link to something else. E.g. a
drawing of something is used instead of writing it in a
language, but is still understood just as much.
• Symbolic: Formal signs are used to indicate meaning. E.g. a
cigarette with a cross indicating a non smoking area.

4. Examples of Iconic signs Examples of Indexical
signs
Examples of Symbolic
signs