John Deely (born 1942) is Professor of Philosophy at the Center for Thomistic Studies of the University of St. Thomas (Houston). He is one among many accomplished scholars at the Center.
His main research concerns the role of semiosis (the action of signs) in mediating objects and things. He specifically investigates the manner in which experience itself is a dynamic structure (or web) woven of triadic relations (signs in the strict sense) whose elements or terms (representaments, significates and interpretants) interchange positions and roles over time in the spiral of semiosis. He was 2006-2007 Executive Director of the Semiotic Society of America.
Dr. Deely is married to famous Maritain scholar Brooke Williams Smith (now Deely).
Publications
His most recent publications include:
Four Ages of Understanding (Univ Toronto: 2001)
What Distinguishes Human Understanding (St. Augustine's: 2002)
The Impact on Philosophy of Semiotics (St. Augustine's: 2003)
