{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.03167848699763593, 'fraction_numerical': 0.007565011820330969, 'mean_word_length': 4.894150417827298, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Degeneracy: A reading of Peirce's writing

One of the sign divisions devised by Peirce is between 'genuine' signs and 'degenerate' signs. This opposition is used by Peirce in at least two senses. On the one hand, both indexical and iconic signs are considered degenerate with respect to symbolic, fully triadic signs, so that the only sign to be 'genuine' or 'pure' in all respects is the Third, all of whose three terms are equally Thirds. On the other hand, both Thirds and Seconds can have degenerate forms. In a degenerate Second the Secondness partakes of Firstness. A Third can be degenerate in two degrees. The first degree of degeneracy is found in a Third involving Secondness; while the second degree of degeneracy is found in a Third partaking of Firstness. The two uses of the concept of degeneracy cannot be neatly separated, but are in several ways interconnected. Not only do they coexist in Peirce's writings; they also overlap theoretically, at least to some degree. To this already confusing situation it must be added that Peirce did not develop the concept of degeneracy in any systematic way. He invented it, as it were, in 1885, then discussed it episodically, and subsequently abandoned it in his later years. What Peirce came to reject was, however, the term 'degeneracy' (with its somewhat pejorative flavor), not the notion itself. As Peirce evolved his general theory of signs and, by 1902, had adopted a new, broad concept of logic as coextensive with semeiotic, the term 'degeneracy' became superfluous, because degenerate signs were incorporated into Peirce's sign theory as varieties of signs. For the purposes of this article, the discussion of degeneracy must necessarily remain limited to one aspect — namely, its emergence in Peirce's thought. An elaborate theoretical discussion of the degenerate sign may be found in Buczynska-Garewicz (1979,1983), on whose insights I have respectfully drawn here. Rather than giving a general account of degeneracy, the present article will thus proceed chronologically. Its primary aim is to venture a commentary on, or interpretation (in the