Does social psychology need a new semiotic overarching framework for grasping social knowledge? Commentary on J. Wachelke: Semiosis, thought and codes: A theoretical framework for social knowledge

Abstract

Since the semiotic turn in the twentieth century, many psychological trends have pointed out the heuristic value of the notion of sign for explaining human relations and collectively constructed knowledge. Hence, it is worth reflecting on which are the novelties that Wachelke’s ideas introduce in comparison with the already available psychological theoretical developments to understand social knowledge. Also, the concept of code proposed by Wachelke to nominate the different forms of social knowledge, wouldn’t it be too fixed to capture their complexity diversity and uniqueness? Finally, it is worth highlighting the epistemological relevance of the dialogue that Wachelke´s paper aims to establish with social representations theory and cultural psychology. Conceptual discussions about basic assumptions and units of analysis from different research programs and theoretical frames allow scientists to promote their revision, elucidation, and growth.