Turning Signs

by Gary Fuhrman (gnox -at- gnusystems -dot- ca)

For best results, read the Foresign first, and Chapters 1 through 19 in order.

This book is optimized for reading online. With your browser, you can control the window and text size, use the hyperlinks when and if you want to, and bookmark the chapters and subheadings to keep track of where you left off in the reading. Also, as with any webpage, you can save chapters to your computer or device for reading offline. You can also post comments about the book on the aftersigns blog.

If and when you are ready to pay something for online access to this book (or to buy the whole book, perhaps in another format), go to the contribution page on the aftersigns blog. This will also support the continuing research and development of Turning Signs now appearing in the blog (one point at a time) and on the Reverse side.

Contents

·0·   Foresign

Universe • The Point

0     Foresign

Turning Signs is a kind of hybrid publication. It's meant for everybody, but that doesn't mean that everybody (or anybody) will find a use for it. On the face of it – the Obverse side, as i call it – is a philosophical essay which is intended not for specialists in Philosophy or any other field, but for readers curious about meaning itself, what it is and how it works. It aims to direct your attention to matters so familiar that we commonly ignore them. But it also draws upon a wide range of research into more specific aspects of experiencing, meaning and life itself, including various arts, sciences and religious traditions. I have documented these sources, to the best of my ability, by means of parenthetical citations and a reference list so that interested readers can locate them if they wish to.

I've also included hypertext links so that readers who are so inclined can take side trips from the main train of thought running through the sequential chapters of the book's Obverse side. Most of these links lead to the Reverse side, which consists of fairly short texts like posts on a weblog – in fact, i'm now in the process of posting them (one at a time, in no special order) on my blog, aftersigns, which will also allow for comments and conversations on the posts. The Reverse side is chronically unfinished, while the Obverse side is complete as of 6 September 2015 and will not change (except possibly for correction of factual or formal errors and addition of more hyperlinks). It represents the state of the author's thought in September 2015, although it took 15 years of research and revision, and 70 years of a human life, to reach that state. It therefore serves as a relatively stable context for the more or less current thoughts appearing on the aftersigns blog and updated (repatched) on the Reverse side.

The Chapters and rePatches listed (and linked) above are ordinary webpages readable with any browser, so that readers can easily adjust the text size and bookmark it. In the original design, links appear yellow on the black background. The main text is white on black, for easier reading on a screen, but the pages are also optimized for printing; if you must print them, try to economize on paper as much as possible. (The book is not currently available in print, but that will change if i get requests for the printed book. If you have any problems, or comments or questions, post them on the aftersigns blog or e-mail me (gnox -at- gnusystems -dot- ca). I can also provide PDF versions of the Obverse chapters if there's any call for them, or add you to an email group for discussion of Turning Signs.

Getting back to my ‘sources,’ only those published are included in my reference list and on my Sourcenet page (see link below). But of course i owe much of my thinking to conversations (mostly by email) with many others, only a few of whom i can acknowledge here. I will start with those who were most involved in the final stages of thinking through the Obverse side, and work backwards from there.

I have learned much in recent years from fellow students of C.S. Peirce, through conversations both on and off the PEIRCE-L email list, especially Gary Richmond, Frederik Stjernfelt, Søren Brier, Vinicius Romanini, Ben Udell, Sally Ness, Cathy Legg, John Collier, John Deely, and (before his death in 2010) Joe Ransdell, founder of PEIRCE-L and the Arisbe website.

Other scholars and friends who have contributed to the ideas developed here include Todd Lawson, Stan Salthe, Robert Ulanowicz and John McCrone. In the early years of the project i learned much from Anthony Freeman and other editors and contributors to the Journal of Consciousness Studies, and from members of IRAS, especially Michael Cavanaugh and Ursula Goodenough.

I am also thankful for life on Manitoulin Island, where all the writing was done, and for inspiring conversations i've had there, especially with Chuc and Linda Willson, Heather Thoma, Paul Salanki, Sophie Edwards, Jim Hart, and the late Jim Murray. Special thanks to Algis and Ruta Tribinevicius and Danielle Bourgault, who participated (along with Chuc and Linda) in a series of study sessions on the early chapters of the book.

The one person most reponsible for the better qualities of this book – thanks to her unflagging encouragement and support over the 15 years of its writing, and her loving and devoted practice of the Bahá'í Faith we share – is my wife and partner in gnusystems and daily dialogue, Pam Jackson. To Pam this book is dedicated with love for the joyful being she is.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

If you'd like to compensate us for your use of Turning Signs, please visit the blog page we've made for that purpose. In any case, thanks for your attention!