Les contraintes de la motivation des signes d’après le système semi-symbolique

A careful study of Floch’s contributions can help to clarify and update the question of the motivation of signs. This is the aim of our paper, to better understand the groundedness of the relationship between the signifier and the signified through the semiotic category that Floch repeatedly probed, explained and applied and of which he was the major promulgator: the semi-symbolic. Our hypothesis is that Flochian theoretical reflections and empirical analyses imply an epistemic conception of correlative and contrastive thinking. The semi-symbolic goes beyond the occurrence of the particular decoding and encoding of a given text to rise to the rank of a structuring model of the logic of the sensible, adept at producing “truth” effects of meaning, at managing the game of truth, between the dimension of manifestation (appearing/non-appearing) and that of immanence (being/non-being). After rereading and examining some of Floch’s most relevant passages in this regard, we will return to the semi-symbolic as a motivated relation and demonstrate the fecundity of this tool even in the face of big data banks.