Abstract: The fundamental aim of epistemology and moral philosophy is the pursuit of foundational principles. Pragmatism resolves the so-called "fact-value dichotomy" by showing how values emerge dynamically through practice, thus establishing a mutually constitutive relationship between knowledge and ethics. Charles S. Peirce's semiotics implicitly outlines an unfinished ethical project: semiotic ethics. When we think with signs that are triadically structured as representamen, object, and interpretant rather than think with concepts that are dyadically structured as meaning and reference, we will have the opportunity to transcend all traditional forms of dualism. Semiosis simultaneously configures the cognitive "I-World" relations and the ethical "I-We" relations, thereby enacting the dual grounding of epistemology and moral philosophy. A critical engagement with Karl-Otto Apel's transcendental interpretation of Peircean semiotics reveals that such dual grounding can be realized through the dynamic, evolving practices of communities, resulting in a grounding without a metaphysical Ground for epistemology and ethics. The triadic nature of signs, the normative dimensions of communal practices, and an orientation toward future-directed immanent transcendence collectively underpin this dual grounding task, illuminating the interdependence of ethical norms and epistemic construction.
Jing Zhou (Wed,) studied this question.