UNLIMITED SEMIOSIS, ENCYCLOPAEDIC SEMANTICS, AND INTERPRETATION OF RIGHTS

In this article, I intend to identify, within the frame of the semiotic theories of C.S. Peirce and U. Eco, some indications that may help to shed light on a remarkable phenomenon of constitutional interpretation, namely the influence exerted, in the process of determination of the constitutional provisions which attribute fundamental rights, by the set of beliefs, expectations, purposes etc., sedimented within a socially oriented linguistic practice. Through this operation of analogical transposition, I seek to highlight how the identification of the theoretical-doctrinal backgrounds related to the complex of ethical-political conceptions incorporated by the constitutions is strongly influenced by various elements of an intra- and extra-textual nature. Furthermore, by placing the interpretative processes in a broader hermeneutic-semiotic framework that considers legal cases as sign functions, the text seeks to demonstrate in a relatively easy-to-understand manner that the theoretical complications involved in the legal field do not ultimately differ from to those found in any other interpretative activity that involves the use of a natural-historical language.