Pragmatism? What’s Pragmatism? The Operationalist Aspect of Pragmatism More Examples of Operational Definitions

Truth, Justice, and the American Pragmatist Way

Thomas Burke

Department of Philosophy University of South Carolina

Latest version: April 7, 2012

1 of 46 Burke Truth, Justice, Pragmatism Pragmatism? What’s Pragmatism? The Operationalist Aspect of Pragmatism More Examples of Operational Definitions Abstract

Throughout his many writings Peirce occasionally presented examples of how to use the pragmatist method of defining one’s terms, having insisted that pragmatism is just that: a methodological stance concerning how best to clarify one’s terminology. One of the more remarkable examples is his definition of the word ‘reality’ with the corollary definition of the word ‘truth’ (Peirce 1878). I argue below that this definition also supplies for free a corollary definition of the word ‘knowledge’. Moreover, the same type of definition (involving a long-run perfectionist ideal of some sort) can be given for the words ‘democracy’ and ‘justice’.

2 of 46 Burke Truth, Justice, Pragmatism Pragmatism? What’s Pragmatism? The Operationalist Aspect of Pragmatism More Examples of Operational Definitions Outline

1 Pragmatism? What’s Pragmatism? The Pragmatic Maxim Inferentialism and Operationalism

2 The Operationalist Aspect of Pragmatism Some of Peirce’s Examples Some of James’s Examples Other Examples

3 More Examples of Operational Definitions Reality and Truth (Peirce’s template) Knowledge Democracy Justice

3 of 46 Burke Truth, Justice, Pragmatism Pragmatism? What’s Pragmatism? The Pragmatic Maxim The Operationalist Aspect of Pragmatism Inferentialism and Operationalism More Examples of Operational Definitions The Pragmatic Maxim

Pragmatism in its original form was a methodological perspective or stance regarding the nature of meaning (semantic, pragmatic) drawing on a particular package of views about the nature of belief, action, habit, thought, and inquiry. (Burke ms1). The pragmatic maxim is crucial to this view—originally presented by Peirce as a way to achieve a “3rd grade of clearness” of meaning over and above the so-called “clarity and distinctness” characteristic of axiomatic mathematics: “Consider what effects, which might conceivably have practical bearings, we conceive the object of our conception to have. Then, our conception of these effects is the whole of our conception of the object.” [Peirce 1878, EP1:132]

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Peirce insisted that this maxim is about meaning—a “maxim of logic”—promoting no particular doctrine but only a method for more clearly defining one’s terms. Nevertheless, the maxim is ambiguous. Differences and disagreements between Peirce and James have not helped matters in the meantime. There are at least a couple of valid readings of the maxim depending on how you characterize “conceivable effects” and “practical bearings”: an inferentialist reading (James’s emphasis) an operationalist reading (essential for Peirce, though he seems to have embraced if not conflated the two readings)

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Sellars, Quine, Rorty, Brandom, et al., have developed inferentialist aspects of pragmatism. E.g., what’s the meaning of ‘∈ ’? Inferentialist answer: It’s a matter of how the symbol is used as part of a larger vocabulary (of set theory, for instance). (Note: This won’t work for first-order languages. It is not possible to characterize a standard conception of natural numbers inferentially using only a first-order axiomatic “vocabulary” since there are nonstandard models for any such axiomatization. Inferentialism thus cannot focus solely on first-order languages.) James’s view, broadly stated, is that not just the meanings of terms but the truth values of hypotheses couched in such terms are a function of how well they work as part of a larger language and system of beliefs. 6 of 46 Burke Truth, Justice, Pragmatism Pragmatism? What’s Pragmatism? The Pragmatic Maxim The Operationalist Aspect of Pragmatism Inferentialism and Operationalism More Examples of Operational Definitions Inferentialism and Operationalism

The focus in this presentation is on operationalist aspects of pragmatism. E.g., what’s the meaning of ‘∈ ’? Operationalist answer: It’s derived from how we identify, compare, and manipulate collections of things—in herds, boxes, baskets, sacks, buckets, pockets, bank accounts, etc.—putting things in, taking things out, etc. James was mostly blind not to empiricist aspects of pragmatism but to operationalist aspects of pragmatism. Peirce (trained in the laboratory) often illustrated proper use of the pragmatic maxim with none other than operational definitions (examples below).

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At the same time, Peirce in 1902 mentioned the “furthering of concrete reasonableness” as a “4th grade of clearness” and as “the highest of all aims” (see Pfeifer 2011). This would amalgamate inferentialist and operationalist aspects of pragmatism: reasonableness (inferential in nature) would be gauged by the combined coherence of abductive, deductive, and inductive methods addressed to a common subject matter; concreteness would be achieved by operationally grounding one’s grasp of that subject matter (that is, by operationally defining one’s terms). Some of Peirce’s examples of using the pragmatist method were inferential rather than operational.

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Peirce supplied a number of operational definitions designed to illustrate what pragmatism is. For instance: transubstantiation (wine vs. blood) (Peirce 1878) hard, weight, force (Peirce 1878) lithium (Peirce 1903) hard (again; anti-nominalist), diamond (Peirce 1905) time (an inferential definition?) (Peirce 1905)

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If you look into a textbook of chemistry for a definition of lithium, you may be told that it is that element whose atomic weight is 7 very nearly. But if the author has a more logical mind he will tell you that if you search among minerals that are vitreous, translucent, gray or white, very hard, brittle, and insoluble, for one which imparts a crimson tinge to an unluminous flame, this mineral being triturated with lime or witherite rats-bane, and then fused, can be partly dissolved in muriatic acid; and if this solution be evaporated, and the residue be extracted with sulphuric acid, and duly purified, it can be converted by ordinary methods into a chloride, which being obtained in the solid state, fused, and electrolyzed with half a dozen powerful cells, will yield a globule of a pinkish silvery metal that will float on gasolene; and the material of that is a specimen of lithium. The peculiarity of this definition—or rather this precept that is more serviceable than a definition—is that it tells you what the word lithium denotes by prescribing what you are to do in order to gain a perceptual acquaintance with the object of the word. (Peirce 1903, EP2:286) 10 of 46 Burke Truth, Justice, Pragmatism Pragmatism? What’s Pragmatism? Some of Peirce’s Examples The Operationalist Aspect of Pragmatism Some of James’s Examples More Examples of Operational Definitions Other Examples The Operationalist Aspect of Pragmatism

James was less helpful in this regard. For example: going around a squirrel—can be cast in operationalist terms (James 1907a) In contrast: several messy metaphysical issues discussed in operationalist-friendly inferentialistic terms—substance vs. attributes, personal identity, matter vs. spirit, evolution vs. intelligent design, free will vs. determinism (James 1907b)

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Some other illustrations: the debate about instant replay in Major League Baseball: first, eliminate the confusion, not unlike James’s “going around” example (Burke & Colley 2011ms) Jane Addams and the Settlement Movement: participation versus reform (Burke 2010) Gibson’s ecological psychology: “sensation” as extraction of invariants (Burke ms1) Euclidean geometry: compass-&-straightedge abilities versus theorems (Mathematica demo) A first-order “blocks language”: an operational semantics and a respective sound and complete proof system, mimicking dynamic logic but with an operational twist (Burke ms2; Barwise & Etchemendy 1999) 12 of 46 Burke Truth, Justice, Pragmatism Reality and Truth (Peirce’s template) Pragmatism? What’s Pragmatism? Knowledge The Operationalist Aspect of Pragmatism Democracy More Examples of Operational Definitions Justice More Examples of Operational Definitions

Now consider some really “hard words.” Each of the words we will look at next signifies (expresses, denotes) some kind of ideal. What’s an ideal? For what it’s worth: The word ‘ideal’ is defined as “1. a conception of something in its perfection. 2. a standard of perfection or excellence.”—Dictionary.com. This is good for present purposes. The notion of perfection suits Peirce’s intentions well. The following definitions all appeal to a perfect “long run” employment of otherwise common practices . . .

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After defining ‘hard’, ‘weight’, ‘force’ in the 1877–78 articles, Peirce presented operational definitions of the words ‘reality’ and ‘truth’ (as further illustrations of how to use the pragmatist method). Note: ∗ James presented an allegedly pragmatist theory of truth—a bit of pragmatist doctrine, as it were. ∗ Peirce offered only an operational definition of the word ‘truth’—presenting no doctrine but simply to illustrate the pragmatist method.

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How did Peirce proceed? To begin with (says Peirce), the word ‘reality’ denotes that which is independent of whatever anybody may think it to be. But such a rough-and-ready characterization is not entirely clear. To achieve a higher grade of clarity—to give an operational definition—what are some requisite types of operations and respective results that may be used to define a word like ‘reality’? Specifically, we must do three things: (1) specify appropriate types of operations, (2) characterize respective types of sensible effects of executing those operations, and then (3) define the target word in just those terms.

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1. Peirce’s operational definitions of ‘reality’ and ‘truth’ are couched in terms of inquiry as a type of operation,... 2. . . . with beliefs resulting from inquiry as sensible effects. But not just any beliefs. We want to consider only results of the type of inquiry—scientific inquiry—which already has built into its methodology an explicit critical concern for distinguishing true vs. false beliefs. 3. First, what we should mean by the phrase ‘the truth’ is the opinion that would be ultimately agreed to (“by all who investigate”) as the result of the perfect employment of scientific methods of inquiry. Then, by ‘reality’ we should mean simply that which is represented in such an opinion. 16 of 46 Burke Truth, Justice, Pragmatism Reality and Truth (Peirce’s template) Pragmatism? What’s Pragmatism? Knowledge The Operationalist Aspect of Pragmatism Democracy More Examples of Operational Definitions Justice Knowledge

Defining the word ‘truth’ in this way impacts the definitions of other words. In particular, . . . Peirce refers to “the opinion which is fated to be ultimately agreed to by all who [scientifically] investigate” as a “belief in the real” and thus as a true belief. In Peirce’s sense of these terms, a true belief is a belief that will have been perfectly justified. We thus get an immediate semantic freebie: true belief as perfectly justified true belief (PJTB) in the above sense is what we should mean by the word ‘knowledge’.

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The operational definition of ‘reality’ (in terms of inquiry as a kind of operation that “settles opinion” or “fixes belief”) thus immediately yields operational definitions of the words ‘truth’ and ‘knowledge’ (not just two but three birds with one stone). Note 1: The definition of ‘knowledge’ easily sidesteps Gettier-style counterexamples which typically pick away at the justification element of a standard JTB conception of knowledge. Any such alleged counterexample points rather to something that will have been dealt with successfully, one way or another, in a perfect inquiry.

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Note 2: In actual practice we rarely achieve such perfection. Perfection is a ‘long run’ ideal. Nevertheless: Even though these definitions do not provide decision procedures for distinguishing true and false beliefs or for determining which beliefs are or are not knowledge, ...... they do provide a meaningful standard: Actual practice measures up to such a standard to the extent that actual results of actual inquiry comport with (i.e., would not be undone by) what would be perfect results of perfect inquiry. We have not compromised common usage of the words ‘truth’, ‘know’, etc. One may meaningfully claim that the sentence ‘grass is green’ is true or that one knows that grass is green insofar as such a claim only commits one to a wager that further inquiry will not disprove it.

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Note 3: Does the “lottery paradox” pose a problem? The lottery paradox (Kyburg 1961) was designed to show that three principles governing the “rational acceptance” of a proposition are jointly inconsistent. Namely, (1) it is rational to accept a proposition that is very likely true, (2) it is not rational to accept a proposition that is known to be inconsistent, and (3) if it is rational to accept a proposition p and it is rational to accept another proposition q, then it is rational to accept p ∧ q. These jointly entail an inconsistency, namely, that none of the tickets in a lottery will win (since each will not) and yet that exactly (and thus at least) one of the tickets will win.

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Kyburg rejected principle (3); but principle (1) is in any case unacceptable. The PJTB alternative would be that (10) it is rational to accept a proposition that is very highly if not perfectly justified by scientific means. Thus, before the drawing, one could not rationally believe that lottery ticket A will not win (or one might sooner dispose of it), but one could rationally believe that it probably won’t win (and thus would keep it until the drawing); and after the drawing, after one hears that another ticket has won, one may rationally believe (say it is true, say that one knows) that ticket A did not win (and could easily dispose of it), thus committing oneself to the wager that one’s warrant for that claim cannot subsequently be shown to be in error.

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So, the lottery paradox poses no problem for PJTB. Note 4: How about the “preface paradox”? The preface paradox (Makinson 1961) is similar to the lottery paradox: Suppose that in writing a book, one will have rationally asserted (by virtue of rationally believing) a large number of propositions: that p1, . . . , that pN , each taken singularly. If we accept Kyburg’s “aggregation” principle (3) above, then it is rational to believe that p1 ∧ ... ∧ pN (of which the book as a whole is an assertion). Yet, as such things always seem to go, one might rationally believe (and acknowledge in the preface) that among such a large number of propositions in such a book, mistakes will have been made and thus that ¬(p1 ∧ ... ∧ pN ). 22 of 46 Burke Truth, Justice, Pragmatism Reality and Truth (Peirce’s template) Pragmatism? What’s Pragmatism? Knowledge The Operationalist Aspect of Pragmatism Democracy More Examples of Operational Definitions Justice Knowledge

This apparent inconsistency rests on the assumption that to believe that it is highly likely that there are errors in the book is tantamount to believing that it is the case that there are such errors. The problem, again, is due essentially to Kyburg’s principle (1). The actual situation by PJTB lights is that

The book is a rational assertion that p1 ∧ ... ∧ pN . One is thereby committed to the wager that mistakes will not be found. On the other hand, in the preface, one acknowledges one’s fallibility, admitting that what is rationally asserted but imperfectly justified in the book may not hold up in the course of perfect inquiry. This denies neither the assertion nor the commitment, but (as a plea for civility?) it acknowledges the risk of the wager. 23 of 46 Burke Truth, Justice, Pragmatism Reality and Truth (Peirce’s template) Pragmatism? What’s Pragmatism? Knowledge The Operationalist Aspect of Pragmatism Democracy More Examples of Operational Definitions Justice Knowledge

Note 5: Peirce’s conception of “the opinion which is fated to be ultimately agreed to by all who investigate” need not be interpreted as an opinion finally formed at the end of all inquiry, at the end of time, etc. Careful repetition and successive refinement of scientific experimentation is in fact time-consuming (and resource-limited). But in characterizing what is meant by ideal long-run results of such inquiry, we may minimize if not ignore the temporal aspect of actual inquiries.

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For example: √The reality of the decimal expansions of the numbers π, e, 2, etc., is not disputed, though they would require an eternity to write out when calculated by hand or computer. Any such expansion, in full, is non-temporal and thus takes no time at all when characterized as the limit of a sequence of respective partial sums (no writing-out of digits required).

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Examples (cont’d): Confirming convincingly if not conclusively that a given die is unfair may take time but does not require tossing the die until the end of time. The real nature of the die is what it is and thus determines the mean distribution of all possible samples of N throws of that particular die. The fair/unfair question can be convincingly answered with just one such sample if N is large enough. The “long run” refers not to the end of time but to the infinite totality of these possible samples considered all at once, simultaneously.

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Examples (cont’d): A buyer randomly samples a load of coffee beans just once in a reasonably short amount of time to assess the current overall quality of the cargo. Given that the coffee beans are subject to spoilage, the real quality is assumed to be indicated by the mean result from all possible random samples of the same size at that time (any one of which will be a good enough estimate if the sample size is sufficiently large). Again, the “long run” refers not to the end of time but to the whole of these possible samples considered all at once, simultaneously.

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Examples (cont’d): Election polls are highly time-dependent (such that considerations of voter preferences at the end of all time are irrelevant if not meaningless). Such polling gets at a quickly changeable reality such that perfect polling should be regarded as instantaneous rather than eternal. Such examples indicate that words that express ideals need not involve “inquiry until the end of time” even if they require perfect inquiry.

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Not all words express ideals as do words like ‘knowledge’, ‘truth’, and ‘reality’. E.g., ‘lithium’, ‘diamond’, ‘hard’, etc. are defined more routinely if perhaps open-endedly, subject to revision if not improvement. In any case, though it is not your common everyday variety of “operational definition,” Peirce’s manner of operationally defining words that do appeal to idealized practices should be clear enough at this point.

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A recent talk by Talisse (2011) suggests that the word ‘justice’ expresses an ideal that can be defined in the way that Peirce defined the word ‘reality’. First, consider the word ‘democracy’: Operational definitions of ‘truth’, ‘reality’, etc., hinge on the notion of perfect employment of scientific methods. Talisse (2007, 63–66) claims that there is a close connection between the notions of science and democracy, given that Peirce (1877) associated each of four types of inquiry (four ways of settling opinion) with a type of political order (able to be successful only in the respective political arrangement):

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tenacity :: anarchy (might makes right; to have a shot at success, this method must be apolitical) authority :: tyranny (totalitarian and/or theocratic) (tenacity writ large, state coercion, intellectual slavery, etc.) a priori (reason alone) :: aristocracy (qua leisure class?) (open discourse and consensus among those with the means to converse; an insular glass bead game for those free to indulge in purely intellectual pursuits; what is “agreeable to reason [alone]” becomes conventionally intuitive and appealing; a provincial reasonableness prevails though being an accidental matter of parochial fashion and taste) 31 of 46 Burke Truth, Justice, Pragmatism Reality and Truth (Peirce’s template) Pragmatism? What’s Pragmatism? Knowledge The Operationalist Aspect of Pragmatism Democracy More Examples of Operational Definitions Justice Democracy

science :: democracy (science, ideally, involves participation of a whole community: not a community of consensus but a community of inquiry; not aimed at belief preservation for its own sake but continually driven to correct if not improve its theories and practices in the event that (if not before) they prove to be inadequate in the face of real events; not answerable to any collection of independent or privileged special interests, but continually challenged by unfolding facts; employing a self-correcting method of inquiry concerned with the integrity and intrinsic worthiness of its progressive accomplishments; etc.) 32 of 46 Burke Truth, Justice, Pragmatism Reality and Truth (Peirce’s template) Pragmatism? What’s Pragmatism? Knowledge The Operationalist Aspect of Pragmatism Democracy More Examples of Operational Definitions Justice Democracy

Talisse concludes that scientific inquiry can be properly carried out only in a democratic political order. (This echoes Putnam’s assertion (1995, 73)—in recommending a pragmatist conception of science over a logical-positivist conception—that science requires the democratization of inquiry.) But here is the present point: turning such claims inside out suggests a way to operationally define the word ‘democracy’.

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To begin simply, a democracy is supposed to be a form of government “of the people, by the people, and for the people” (where primary political power is vested in the governed, such power being exercised directly or through representatives under a free and fair electoral system, etc.). But such rough-and-ready characterizations are not entirely clear. To define the word ‘democracy’ operationally, note that we may characterize different political orders in terms of how their institutions are established and maintained (settled, fixed, stabilized). So . . .

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1. . . . the requisite “operations” would again be inquiries, but more specifically, inquiries as engaged in by a given community of inquirers dealing with matters that may include the community’s own social, political, economic, and legal arrangements. 2. The “sensible results” of such activities would have to be not just beliefs as “propositional attitudes” but institutions as social habits (stable if not secure ways of co-operating) that embody and otherwise substantiate such attitudes (see Peirce 1878, section 2). 3. Then, what we should mean by ‘democracy’ is just the sustained and exclusive use of scientific methods in such inquiries (versus belief-fixing methods characteristic of anarchies, tyrannies, aristocracies, etc.). 35 of 46 Burke Truth, Justice, Pragmatism Reality and Truth (Peirce’s template) Pragmatism? What’s Pragmatism? Knowledge The Operationalist Aspect of Pragmatism Democracy More Examples of Operational Definitions Justice Democracy

Simple but not simplistic (and not easy to implement), this definition sets a clear and meaningful standard (aiming for truth, insisting on perfect institutions even if having to settle in the short term for less than perfect, etc.). A democratic political order in this sense (impartial, rational, self-correcting, etc.) would, by Peirce’s lights, be epistemically if not practically superior to the other kinds of political orders that he discussed (and thus to any other kind of political order whatsoever?).

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Note 1: Other kinds of political orders may be defined likewise: “anarchy” is just the sustained and exclusive use of methods of tenacity in such inquiries, etc. Note 2: Democracy—employing scientific methodology in political affairs—requires (ideally) that every citizen be able to participate fully as an intelligent member of a community of inquiry. With reference to forming and reforming a democratic society’s institutions, any citizen may formulate and analyze hypotheses and propose respective experiments to test them.

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This does not call for government by a scientific elite. Rather, it presupposes (ideally) that every citizen (even if only as a voter) uses scientific sensibilities and methods in carrying out their civic responsibilities—scientific methods in some broad sense that needs to be better understood. In a democracy, only citizens who understand scientific methodology deserve the right to vote. Only candidates who understand it and put it into practice as the basis for their political views deserve to campaign.

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Moving on, we can now attend to the word ‘justice’. We may start with a conception of justice as fairness. But such a rough-and-ready characterization is not entirely clear. To define the word operationally, what types of operations and sensible results might we appeal to? Following Talisse (2011), we should take a cue from Rawls’s social-contract theory of justice (1971, 2001). The issue presently is not whether Rawls is or isn’t a pragmatist or whether pragmatism is or isn’t Rawlsian. But Rawls’s characterization of the “original position” with its “veil of ignorance” in large part provides the kind of operational perspective we are looking for.

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1. Yet again, appropriate types of “operations” will be inquiries as engaged in by a given community of inquirers dealing specifically with their own social, political, economic, and legal arrangements. In particular, we want to consider inquiries that would attempt, e.g., “to specify and assess the system of rules that constitute [ ] basic institutions, and determine the fair distribution of rights, duties, opportunities, powers and positions of office to be realized within them” (Freeman 2008). Note: Any of Peirce’s four types of inquiry could be employed in this way.

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2. “Sensible results” of executing such operations would be basic institutions (viz. social, political, economic, and legal “habits of action”) that embody and otherwise substantiate those specifications and assessments. 3. What should be meant by a ‘just institution’, then, is the kind of institution that ultimately would be collectively achieved as the product of perfectly-executed democratic deliberations of this particular type (concerning basic institutions, seeking real fairness, etc.).

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Rawls’s conception of the original position (etc.) depicts what perfectly impartial, universal, and equal participation in perfectly-executed democratic inquiries would look like where real fairness is the aim—where otherwise one could not negotiate without preferential regard for one’s actual interests. The ideally disinterested negotiation that takes place in the original position thus sets a high standard in general for what deliberations should look like in a democracy. (Striving for such disinterestedness, as an ideal standard, is key to achieving the objectivity that is essential to legitimate science.)

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Like ‘truth’, ‘knowledge’, etc., the words ‘democracy’ and ‘justice’ express ideals. Such perfect results often are not achievable in practice. It is unlikely that actual negotiations will always measure up to the high standards set by Rawls’s depiction of the original position. Nevertheless, given such a definition, one may meaningfully claim that some political arrangement or event is just (or unjust). Slavery is unjust. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 is just. Making such a claim simply commits one to the wager that further democratic inquiry would not eventually disprove it.

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Barwise, Jon and John Etchemendy. 1999. Language, Proof, and Logic. Stanford: CSLI Publications. Burke, F. Thomas. 2010. Empiricism, Pragmatism, and the Settlement Movement. The Pluralist 5(3):75–90. Burke, F. Thomas. ms1, in press. What Pragmatism Was. Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. Burke, F. Thomas. ms2. Pragmatism and Dynamic Logic: A Sorted Affair. Work in progress. See hhttp://people.cas.sc.edu/burket/burke2010ms-sortedaffair.pdfi. Burke, F. Thomas and Caleb Colley. 2011ms. A Pragmatist Take on the Use of Instant Replay in Major League Baseball. Manuscript. Early drafts presented at the Sixth Atlantic Coast Pragmatism Workshop (April 2011, Asheville NC) and at the Fourth Nordic Pragmatism Conference (August 2011, Copenhagen). Dewey, John. 1938. Logic: The Theory of Inquiry. New York: Henry Holt and Company. Reprinted in LW 12. Dewey, John. 1981–1990. The Later Works, vol. 1–17 (1925–1953). Ed. Jo Ann Boydston. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press. Citations of items in this edition are indicated by LW followed by volume and page numbers. Freeman, Samuel. 2008. Original Position. In Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. hhttp://plato.stanford.edu/entries/original-position/i. James, William. 1907a. A Defense of Pragmatism. Popular Science Monthly 70:193–206 and 351–364. Reprinted as Lectures I and II of James 1907c. James, William. 1907b. Some Metaphysical Problems Pragmatically Considered. Lecture III of James 1907c.

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James, William. 1907c. Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking. New York: Longmans, Green, and Company. Reprinted in Pragmatism and Other Essays (New York: Washington Square Press, 1963) and in the Works of William James series (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1975). Reprinted again together with James 1909 in James 1978. Page citations refer to the latest reprinted version in James 1978, indicated by PMT followed by page or chapter numbers. James, William. 1909. The Meaning of Truth: A Sequel to Pragmatism. New York: Longmans, Green, and Company. Reprinted in the Works of William James series (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1975). Reprinted again together with James 1907c in James 1978. Page citations refer to the latest reprinted version in James 1978, indicated by PMT followed by page or chapter numbers. James, William. 1978. Pragmatism and The Meaning of Truth. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. A combined reprint of James 1907c, 1909 with an introduction by A. J. Ayer. Items in this collection are indicated by PMT followed by page or chapter numbers. Kyburg, H. E. 1961. Probability and the Logic of Rational Belief. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press. Makinson, D. C. 1965. Paradox of the Preface. Analysis 25:205–207. Peirce, Charles Sanders. 1872. Toward a Logic Book, 1872–73. In WP3:12–108. Peirce, Charles Sanders. 1877. The Fixation of Belief. Popular Science Monthly 12:1–15. Reprinted in CP5:223–247, EP1, chap. 7, and WP3:242–257. Peirce, Charles Sanders. 1878. How to Make Our Ideas Clear. Popular Science Monthly 12:286–302. Reprinted in CP5:248–271, EP1, chap. 8, and WP3:257–276. Peirce, Charles Sanders. 1902. Pragmatic and Pragmatism. In James Mark Baldwin, ed., Dictionary of Philosophy and Psychology, vol. 2, 321–322. New York: Macmillan Company. Reprinted in CP5:1–4. 45 of 46 Burke Truth, Justice, Pragmatism Reality and Truth (Peirce’s template) Pragmatism? What’s Pragmatism? Knowledge The Operationalist Aspect of Pragmatism Democracy More Examples of Operational Definitions Justice References III

Peirce, Charles Sanders. 1903. Sundry Logical Conceptions. Third section of A Syllabus of Certain Topics of Logic (1903). In EP2, chap. 20. Peirce, Charles Sanders. 1905. Issues of Pragmaticism. The Monist 15:481–499. Reprinted in CP5:438–463 and EP2, chap. 25. Peirce, Charles Sanders. 1931–1935/1958. Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Peirce (CP). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Vol. 1–6 ed. Charles Hartshorne and Paul Weiss; vol. 7–8 ed. Arthur W. Burks. Items in this collection are indicated by CP followed by volume and paragraph numbers. Peirce, Charles Sanders. 1981ff. Writings of Charles S. Peirce: A Chronological Edition (WP). Ed. Peirce Edition Project. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. Items in this multi-volume collection are indicated by WP followed by volume and page numbers. Peirce, Charles Sanders. 1992/1998. The Essential Peirce: Selected Philosophical Writings, in two volumes. Ed. Peirce Edition Project. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. Pfeifer, David. 2011. Inquiry and the Fourth Grade of Clearness. Presented at the 4th Nordic Pragmatism Conference, Copenhagen. Putnam, Hilary. 1995. Pragmatism: An Open Question. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. Rawls, John. 1971. A Theory of Justice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Rawls, John. 2001a. Collected Papers. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Rawls, John. 2001b. Justice as Fairness: A Restatement. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Talisse, Robert B. 2007. A Pragmatist Philosophy of Democracy. London: Routledge. Talisse, Robert B. 2011. Social Inquiry and the Challenges of Democracy: Why Pragmatists Must be Rawlsians. Fourth Nordic Pragmatism Conference, Copenhagen. 46 of 46 Burke Truth, Justice, Pragmatism