p The pragmatic version of the semantic philosophy of art, developed on the basis of behaviourist semiotics, is the work of Charles Morris (b. 1901), an American philosopher and leading figure in semiotics, the science which he was the first to represent in systematized form.

p In his writing Morris was inspired by the semantic movement to create a unified science, which found expression in his work Foundations oi the Theory of Signs (1938) (1). In Morris’ opinion, the most significant results in this movement had been achieved in mathematics, logic and physics (Russell, Carnap, Reichenbach). Nothing of comparative worth had come out of the social sciences and humanities. Morris set himself the task of bringing the social sciences and humanities into the study programme for a unified science.

p With the long-term aim of constructing a general human science he decided to start by working out a general theory of the sign (semiotics) and a general theory of value ( axiology). “For several decades my work has centered,” he wrote, “around two problems: the development of a general theory of signs and the development of a general theory of value" (8, vii). The first problem is given detailed treatment in his book Signs, Language and Behavior (1946), and the second in the book Varieties of Human Value (1956). Both theories were developed in the terms of the theory of action or behaviour, given its basic development by the American pragmatist G. Mead. In his book Signification and Significance (1964) Morris tried to combine these two developmental lines of his own studies. The final “strategic” objective of the American 202 philosopher’s analyses is to view the general study of man as part of a still more general science of behaviour. In addition to the books we have mentioned these problems have been analysed by Morris in his numerous articles.

As noted above, Morris first endeavoured to view the “ socio-humanitarian" disciplines-science, morality, politics, religion and art-from a single semiotic point of view. In particular, in his early articles “Aesthetics and the Theory of Signs" (1939) (2), “Science, Art and Technology" (1939) (3), as well as in the sections devoted to art in his book Signs, Language and Behavior, questions concerned with the semiotic analysis of art are specially discussed. In these analyses the author also briefly touched upon the problem of the value nature of art.