ABSTRACT
Signs and symbols play an important role in our lives. We use them to extract and convey information, to deceive and to reveal. Some symbols are considered natural. Smoke, for example, is said to signal fi re. Some symbols are clearly conventional, such as the string of words you are now paying attention to. Some are obviously part of a whole system, such as, for instance, a system of traffi c signs. Others seem to stand alone, like calling a friend and letting the phone ring only once to let her know you are on your way without wasting the money for a call. One of philosophers’ abiding interests has been how we manage to represent the world with language. But just as there are more ways to do things with words than represent the world, there are also more ways to do that than with words.
