“A Tagmemic Semiotic Analysis of Chemical Representations,” Public Journal of Semiotics 12.2 (2026): 20-37, https://doi.org/10.37693/pjos.2026.12.28304. Copyright license © CC BY-NC. Used with permission.
Vern Poythress comments: like other articles on semiotics posted at this website, this one uses the semiotic framework of tagmemic theory, which includes a number of triads of perspectives reflecting the Trinity. (See In the Beginning Was the Word [Crossway, 2009].) Application of tagmemic theory to the technical notations of chemistry highlights the presence of God as the Trinitarian God. It also highlights the humanity of chemists, who show in their thinking the characteristics patterns of meaning that belong to numerous other semiotic systems used by human beings in all walks of life. Finally, the close match between technical notions in chemistry and the actual world of atoms, molecules, and molecular reactions indicates that the world itself is organized in a manner suitable for the triadic analysis of semiotics. The world has triadic meaning, and is the product of the Trinitarian personal God.