ABSTRACT
The present paper outlines some new approaches to symbolism inspired by the recent work of Nelson Goodman,1 which, in its broad perspective on symbolic functions, may be considered a proper descendant of the pragmatism of Peirce, James, and Dewey. Incorporating a comprehensive analysis of reference embracing the arts as well as the sciences, the nonlinguistic as well as the linguistic, the literal and the metaphorical, Goodman’s work challenges self-imposed philosophical restrictions to the scientific and the formal, thus returning to a more generous pragmatic view and opening the way to new investigations in all areas of symbolism.
