First, basic information about Peirce's philosophy is presented, describing mainly the universal modalities related to the constitution of the meaning of phenomena and of the corresponding signs that represent such phenomena. Second, analyses are performed, focusing on the relationships between these universal modalities with psychoanalytic conceptions about the constitution of the meaning of emotional experiences, highlighting the role of unconscious processes.

High importance is given to how the universal elements proposed by Peirce are related to some of the most important psychoanalytic conceptions. The Peircean notions are compared to pillars capable of providing reinforcement and functioning as bridges linking different psychoanalytic conceptions, specifically those proposed by Freud, Klein, Bion and Winnicott.

Highlighted on Freud and Peirce are the semiotic aspects of the ideas about the “presentation of things” and “free energy”? in the unconscious and the “representation of words” and “bound energy” in consciousness. On Klein, clarifications about semiotic characteristics of paranoid-schizoid and depressive positions are provided. In relation to Bion's work, the striking correspondences of Peirce's semiotic with the concepts of alpha function and alpha and beta elements are examined. Finnally, Winnicott's and Peirce's ideas are considered, leading to important semiotic clarifications about the transitional objects and phenomena.