What is the Object of the Proposition?

Abstract

My aim in this paper is to explore Peirce’s conception of the object of the proposition. After a brief discussion of the structure of propositions and of the transition to the broader conception of “dicisign” (or quasi-proposition), I connect the doctrine of dicisigns to the notion of “immediate object”, which is not the object as represented, as textual evidence shows, but the object as denoted, that is, the quantitative way the object is given in a proposition. This shows not only that Peirce’s theory of propositions is strictly related to his di- chotomy of objects, but also that the object as represented is to be found at the level of the full-fledged proposition, thus calling for a deeper inquiry into Peirce’s theory of propositions.