Philosophysm Daily - Ferdinand de Saussure

DFJojfgwhed... make sense? No? And why not? Well, I'll let Ferdinand de Saussure explain, he invented the idea of semiotics, and he's today's philosopher.

Saussure was a Swiss bloke, who did most of his work in the late 19th century, and was quite intrigued by the way language worked. The fact that we can blow wind out of our mouths in different ways to communicate often complex ideas was just a major sticking point for him, and eventually he came up with the theory of semiotics, which is now a widely studied subject of its own!

The basics of semiotics designates that language is all about signs - that as humans we've come to create our own signs for all the external stimuli we come into contact with, and often those signs are words - although someone flipping you off is also a sign. See, according to Saussure, as long as there was a' signifier' ( a image cue of any kind) and something being 'signified'(a mental understanding of concept) then language existed .

For example - I ask my friend for a "smoke", my friend hears the word "smoke" which becomes a signifier for the image of a cigarette in his brain - he understands that I want to bum another cigarette from him(signified) and promptly calls me a free-loader.

Saussure was one of the first philosophers to question traditional thought around language - for him it was more than words describing things - it was a phenomena of signals and concepts which we had adapted in a truly remarkable way. It was this observation that lead Saussure to describe language as having a "greater importance" than most other aspects of life, and when one considers just how powerful that voice in the head can be, it's hard to argue with him.

The work of Saussure has lead to great advancements in the field linguistics and even literature, but his theories are not merely of value to academics. The words we use are symbols that we implant in the minds of others, they are the signs with which we advertise ourselves and our ideas, and when left unchecked can become our downfall - we are signifying with every movement, every look, every word - make it count!

Thank you for reading! I learnt about semiotics in Film School when I was more focused on shagging 1st-years than being educated - so please correct me if I got any of this info wrong! That being said, I hope you enjoyed. Please like, follow, and share to show your support.

Till next time, stay woke!

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