Unfinished business: Pragmatics and the paradox of arnold shepperson

The unpublished work of Peirceian philosopher and cultural studies theorist Arnold Shepperson is the subject of this article. A background to the life and work of Shepperson is offered to provide a template against which the articles published in this theme issue of Critical Arts, which is dedicated to Shepperson's work, can be approached and understood. The narrative follows Shepperson's career from his experiences in the South African mining industry, his time as a student and researcher, to his work on his PhD which remains incomplete due to his untimely death. The article establishes a conceptual template within which Shepperson's epistemological history can be read.