The Nature of the Sign as a WFF – A Well-Formed Formula

Reality, both material and conceptual, functions as a complex network of continuous adaptive morphological formation. The morphological form is a well-formed formula (wff), a Sign, an organized process of information. The Sign is formed within a triadic set of relations, which are encoded spatial and temporal measurements. Using a Cartesian quadrant, the six possible relational modes are examined to show how reality is moulded within both symmetrical and asymmetrical functions. 1. MORPHOLOGICAL FORMATION I am examining reality as a complex network of continuous adaptive morphological formation. Physical reality whether crisp or vague exists only within morphological forms, and equally, conceptual reality, whether experienced as individual information or as shared knowledge, functions only within morphological forms. I refer to the process of morphological generation as semiosis. The morphological form in itself, material and conceptual, is a well-formed formula (wff), termed a Sign. In defining the morphological entity as a wff, I refer to its development as a coherent form within a triadic set of relations, which are encoded spatial and temporal measurements. As a result of this triadic interaction the Sign exists as itself and in relations with other Signs, a process that permits both the networked continuity and diversity of reality (Taborsky 2002a, 2002b). 2. THE CARTESIAN QUADRANT The analytic model used to examine this transformative morphological process is a two-dimensional Cartesian coordinate quadrant (Figure 1). The model enables a morphological analysis that acknowledges differential spatial and temporal parameters of measurement. The ontological and epistemological ‘cuts’ (Atmanspacher 1994, 1999, Primas 1993), which are modeled respectively as the vertical Y and horizontal X axes, establish measurement parameters for six predicative relations. These six relations function as semiosic codal measurements; when a selection is made from these six and linked within a triadic functional