MS Am 1632 Peirce, Charles S. (Charles Sanders), 1839-1914

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

MS Am 1632 Peirce, Charles S. (Charles Sanders), 1839-1914 [logo] MS Am 1632 Peirce, Charles S. (Charles Sanders), 1839-1914. Charles S. Peirce papers, 1787-1951: Guide. Houghton Library, Harvard College Library Harvard Yard Harvard University Cambridge, MA, 02138 [email protected] http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.ois:HOU (617) 495-2440 Peirce, Charles S. (Charles Sanders), 1839-1914. Charles S. Peirce papers, 1787-1951: Guide. Table of Contents Summary Information ......................................................................................................................................................................... 3 Physical Location ............................................................................................................................................................................... 3 Provenance: ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 3 Biographical / Historical ..................................................................................................................................................................... 3 Arrangement ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 3 Scope And Contents .......................................................................................................................................................................... 4 Collection Inventory ........................................................................................................................................................................... 5 I. Manuscripts ................................................................................................................................................................................. 5 A. Mathematics ........................................................................................................................................................................... 5 B. Pragmatism .......................................................................................................................................................................... 38 C. Phenomenology ................................................................................................................................................................... 50 D. Logic ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 50 E. Metaphysics ....................................................................................................................................................................... 122 F. Physics ............................................................................................................................................................................... 143 G. Chemistry ........................................................................................................................................................................... 145 H. Astronomy .......................................................................................................................................................................... 147 I. Geodesy and metrology ...................................................................................................................................................... 148 J. Psychology .......................................................................................................................................................................... 152 K. Linguistics ........................................................................................................................................................................... 157 L. History ................................................................................................................................................................................. 169 M. Sciences of review ............................................................................................................................................................. 178 N. Practical science ................................................................................................................................................................ 180 O. Reviews ............................................................................................................................................................................. 182 P. Translations ........................................................................................................................................................................ 197 Q. Miscellanea ........................................................................................................................................................................ 198 II. Correspondence ..................................................................................................................................................................... 212 A. Charles S. Peirce correspondence ..................................................................................................................................... 212 B. Juliette Peirce and Peirce Family correspondence ............................................................................................................ 254 C. Family correspondence ...................................................................................................................................................... 264 IV. Miscellaneous correspondence ......................................................................................................................................... 276 - 2 - Peirce, Charles S. (Charles Sanders), 1839-1914. Charles S. Peirce papers, 1787-1951: Guide. Summary Information Repository: Houghton Library Title: Charles S. Peirce papers Identifier: MS Am 1632 Date: 1787-1951 Physical Description: 74 linear feet (157 boxes, 1 volume, 1 bundle) Language Of Materials: Collection materials are in English. Overview: Papers of philosopher, logician, scientist, and the founder of pragmatism, Charles S. Peirce. Also includes Peirce family correspondence. Conditions Governing There are no restrictions on physical access to this material. Collection is open for research. Access: Immediate Source Of No accession number. Transfer from Harvard University Archives; received: 1960. Acquisition: Processing Information: Finding aid created by: Emilie Hardman The finding aid for this collection is based on descriptions in Richard Robin's Annotated Catalogue of the Papers of Charles S. Peirce and is further informed by Christian Kloesel's annotations. Kloesel suggests many items in the collection described by Robin have been moved in full or part to different places within the collection. These suggestions have been noted and are indicated with question marks throughout as the information has not been verified. Data for items (1)-(1644) were extracted from Robin Catalog by John Old. Library Catalog ID 000602456 Library Catalog Link http://id.lib.harvard.edu/aleph/000602456/catalog Preferred Citation For Charles S. Peirce Papers, 1787-1951 (MS Am 1632). Houghton Library, Harvard University. Publication:: Return to Table of Contents Physical Location b Return to Table of Contents Provenance: Most material in this collection was given to the Harvard University Philosophy Department by Juliette Peirce, (the widow of Charles S. Peirce), in the winter of 1914-1915. The Harvard University Philosophy Department later deposited the collection with the Harvard University Archives. Return to Table of Contents Biographical / Historical Peirce was a philosopher, logician, scientist, and the founder of pragmatism. Return to Table of Contents Arrangement Arrangement of collection was determined by Richard Robin's Annotated Catalogue of the Papers of Charles S. Peirce. Arranged into the following series: - 3 - Peirce, Charles S. (Charles Sanders), 1839-1914. Charles S. Peirce papers, 1787-1951: Guide. I. Manuscripts ___A. Mathematics ___B. Pragmatism ___C. Phenomenology ___D. Logic ___E. Metaphysics ___F. Physics ___G. Chemistry ___H. Astronomy ___I. Geodesy and metrology ___J. Psychology ___K. Linguistics ___L. History ___M. Sciences of review ___N. Practical science ___O. Reviews ___P. Translations ___Q. Miscellanea ___R. Biographical II. Correspondence ___A. Charles S. Peirce correspondence ___B. Juliette Peirce and Peirce family correspondence ___C. Family correspondence ___D. Miscellaneous correspondence Return to Table of Contents Scope And Contents Includes notebooks, lectures, and other compositions on mathematics, pragmatism, metaphysics, logic, linguistics, and the history of science. Also includes correspondence which ranges over much of Peirce’s private and professional life as well as separate files of Peirce family correspondence; and his translations and reviews; and biographical material. Some manuscripts are annotated by early editors, and some have been used as printer’s copy. Peirce’s correspondents include: Paul Carus, James McKeen Cattell, Wendell Phillips Garrison, William Fearing Gill, George Shattuck Morison, Benjamin Peirce, James Mills Peirce, Albert Stickney
Recommended publications
  • And Peirce's Synechism
    Elective Metaphysical Affi nities: Emerson’s “Natural History of Intellect” and Peirce’s Synechism Afi nidades Eletivas Metafísicas: A “História Natural do Intelecto” de Emerson e o Sinequismo de Peirce David A. Dilworth Philosophy Department State University of New York at Stony Brook – USA [email protected] Abstract: The paper suggests that Peirce’s late-phase metaphysical system af- termathed Emerson’s basic philosophical ideas elaborated over four decades before him. Peirce, with characteristic brilliance, transformed Emerson’s own luminous ideas into his categorial elaborations of abduction, cosmogonic synechism, universal semiosis, and the like. To illustrate this process of transformation, the paper provides a running synopsis of Emerson’s last signifi cant writing, “The Natural History of Intellect” (1870), which was ori- ginally part of a team-taught lecture series at Harvard that Emerson shared with six others, one of whom was the young C. S. Peirce. The synopsis evidences that virtually all of Peirce’s major metaphysical tenets had their precedent in Emerson. Among other places, Peirce acknowledged Emerson’s infl uence (together with that of Schelling) in his 1892 essay, “The Law of Mind.” Even before that, he referenced Emerson’s poem “The Sphinx” in his “A Guess at the Riddle” of 1887-88, the turning-point in Peirce’s career towarde metaphysical speculation. Peirce’s conscious awareness of Emerson’s philososphy and poetry traces back to many sources (including Emerson’s long friendship with his father, Benjamin Peirce). The elective affi nity be- tween his and Emerson’s views allows us to appreciate that the two authors forged a central strain of idealistic-cum-realistic metaphysical thinking that framed the later Pragmatisms of James and Dewey, among others.
    [Show full text]
  • 2020 All-Permits---PAM Wellesleyma EXCEL.Xlsx
    Town of Wellesley - Building Department 2020 BLD Residential Permits Record # Record Type Type of Proposed Work Applicant Name Applicant PhoneNo Date Submitted Address Record Status Owner Name Year Built Zoning Mbl Brief Description of Proposed Work Total Estimated Cost Homeowner Adding Lot Area Applying? Bedrooms? RES-20-832 Building Permit - Residential Accessory Building Chris Coppellotti 781-603-8846 11/18/2020 11:49 134 LINDEN STREET, WELLESLEY, MA 02482 Active Suzanne Norris, Trustee & Paul L Mortarelli 2017 1856 GR 123-52 install new shed per plot plan location. 12'x16'. (under 200 sq ft) $6,000 No 18,074 Fam Irrev & Jean C McCorry 2017 Fam Irrev RES-20-632 Building Permit - Residential Accessory Building Andrew Kurtz 413-562-7171 9/22/2020 16:34 796 WORCESTER STREET, WELLESLEY, MA 02482 Active Villa, Eric J 1928 SR10 159-67 onsite construction of 24' x 28' detached two-story accessory structure $66,000 No 19,858 RES-20-552 Building Permit - Residential Accessory Building Silvano Malafaia (617) 839-7097 8/26/2020 22:17 16 RIVERDALE ROAD, WELLESLEY, MA 02481 Active Silvano Charles Malafaia 1916 SR10 51-8 Build additional structure on the rear lot inside setbacks and FAR $89,000 No 11,649 RES-20-451 Building Permit - Residential Accessory Building KEVIN CALLAGHAN (857) 212-2862 7/28/2020 0:31 210 WALNUT STREET, WELLESLEY, MA 02481 Active Quinn, Paul & Dian 1910 SR15 35-98 demo the existing garage, build a new garage in different location as per $91,000 No 14,165 plans RES-20-395 Building Permit - Residential Accessory Building Randy George (617) 571-9757 7/3/2020 17:10 81 HUNNEWELL STREET, WELLESLEY, MA 02481 Active George, Randy & Myra 1948 SR15 17-8 Installing a Reeds Ferry shed - approx 12x14 $4,000 Yes 16,194 RES-20-230 Building Permit - Residential Accessory Building Sean Skehill (774) 930-0320 5/11/2020 17:24 135 GREAT PLAIN AVENUE, WELLESLEY, MA 02482 Active Northland Residential Construction LLC SR20 Relocate Existing Stone Playhouse Structure within the site on to new $55,000 No foundation, roof, window and trim replacement.
    [Show full text]
  • Notes on Peirce's Semiotics and Epistemology
    DIAGRAMMATIC THINKING: NOTES ON PEIRCE’S SEMIOTICS AND EPISTEMOLOGY Luis Radford In this paper, I discuss the role of diagrammatic thinking within the larger context of cognitive activity as framed by Peirce’s semiotic theory of and its underpinning realistic ontology. After a short overview of Kant’s scepticism in its historical context, I examine Peirce’s attempt to rescue perception as a way to reconceptualize the Kantian “manifold of senses”. I argue that Peirce’s redemption of perception led him to a se- ries of problems that are as fundamental as those that Kant encountered. I contend that the understanding of the difficulties of Peirce’s epistemol- ogy allows us to better grasp the limits and possibilities of diagrammatic thinking. Keywords: Culture; Diagrammatic thinking; Kant; Peirce; Perception; Semiotics Pensamiento Diagramático: Notas sobre la Semiótica y la Epistemología de Peirce En este artículo se discute el papel que desempeña el concepto de pen- samiento diagramático en el contexto de la actividad cognitiva, tal y como es concebida dentro del marco de la teoría semiótica de Peirce y su subyacente ontología realista. Luego de presentar una visión general del escepticismo kantiano en su contexto histórico, se examina el esfuer- zo de Peirce por rescatar la percepción, esfuerzo que lo lleva a indagar de manera innovadora el “multiespacio de los sentidos” del que habla- ba Kant. Se mantiene que este esfuerzo lleva a Peirce a una serie de problemas que son tan fundamentales como los que Kant encontró en su propio itinerario epistemológico. Se sostiene que la comprensión de las dificultades intrínsecas a la epistemología de Peirce nos permite cernir mejor los límites y posibilidades de su pensamiento diagramático.
    [Show full text]
  • Statistics on Spotlight: World Statistics Day 2015
    Statistics on Spotlight: World Statistics Day 2015 Shahjahan Khan Professor of Statistics School of Agricultural, Computational and Environmental Sciences University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Queensland, AUSTRALIA Founding Chief Editor, Journal of Applied Probability and Statistics (JAPS), USA Email: [email protected] Abstract In the age of evidence based decision making and data science, statistics has become an integral part of almost all spheres of modern life. It is being increasingly applied for both private and public benefits including business and trade as well as various public sectors, not to mention its crucial role in research and innovative technologies. No modern government could conduct its normal functions and deliver its services and implement its development agenda without relying on good quality statistics. The key role of statistics is more visible and engraved in the planning and development of every successful nation state. In fact, the use of statistics is not only national but also regional, international and transnational for organisations and agencies that are driving social, economic, environmental, health, poverty elimination, education and other agendas for planned development. Starting from stocktaking of the state of the health of various sectors of the economy of any nation/region to setting development goals, assessment of progress, monitoring programs and undertaking follow-up initiatives depend heavily on relevant statistics. Only statistical methods are capable of determining indicators, comparing them, and help identify the ways to ensure balanced and equitable development. 1 Introduction The goals of the celebration of World Statistics Day 2015 is to highlight the fact that official statistics help decision makers develop informed policies that impact millions of people.
    [Show full text]
  • European Journal of Pragmatism and American Philosophy, VIII-2 | 2016 “I Have to Confess I Cannot Read History So,” 2
    European Journal of Pragmatism and American Philosophy VIII-2 | 2016 Pragmatism and the Writing of History “I Have To Confess I Cannot Read History So,” On the Origins and Development of Peirce’s Philosophy of History Alessandro Topa Electronic version URL: http://journals.openedition.org/ejpap/628 DOI: 10.4000/ejpap.628 ISSN: 2036-4091 Publisher Associazione Pragma Electronic reference Alessandro Topa, « “I Have To Confess I Cannot Read History So,” », European Journal of Pragmatism and American Philosophy [Online], VIII-2 | 2016, Online since 16 January 2017, connection on 19 April 2019. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/ejpap/628 ; DOI : 10.4000/ejpap.628 This text was automatically generated on 19 April 2019. Author retains copyright and grants the European Journal of Pragmatism and American Philosophy right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. “I Have To Confess I Cannot Read History So,” 1 “I Have To Confess I Cannot Read History So,” On the Origins and Development of Peirce’s Philosophy of History Alessandro Topa AUTHOR'S NOTE I am indebted to the two anonymous referees, the editors and Emily Smith for suggestions that improved this paper. “The science of knowledge is to be a pragmatic history of the human mind.” Fichte, 1794 “Nature’s highest goal, to become wholly an object to herself, is achieved only through the last and highest order of reflection, which is none other than man; or, more generally, it is what we call reason, whereby nature first completely returns into herself, and by which it becomes apparent that nature is identical from the first with what we recognize in ourselves as the intelligent and the conscious.” Schelling, 1800 “Our physical science, whatever extravagant historicists may say, seems to have sprung up uncaused except by man’s intelligence and nature’s intelligibility, which never could before be operative because it was not studied minutely.
    [Show full text]
  • Peirce's Theory of Communication and Its Contemporary Relevance
    Ahti-Veikko Pietarinen Peirce’s Theory of Communication and Its Contemporary Relevance Introduction The mobile era of electronic communication has created a huge semi- otic system, constructed out of triadic components envisaged by the American scientist and philosopher Charles S. Peirce (1839–1914), such as icons, indices and symbols, and signs, objects and interpretants. Iconic signs bear a physical resemblance to what they represent. Indices point at something and say “there!”, and symbols signify objects by conven- tions of a community.1 All signs give rise to interpretants in the minds of the interpreters. It is nonetheless regrettable that the somewhat simplistic triadic ex- posé of Peirce’s theory of signs has persisted in semiotics as the some- how exhaustive and final description of what Peirce intended. The more fascinating and richer structure of signs emerging from their intimate relation to intercommunication and interaction (Peirce’s terms) has been noted much less frequently. Despite this shortcoming, the full Peircean road to inquiry – per- formed by the dynamic community of learning inquirers, or the com- 1 In fact, according to Peirce (2.278 [1895]): “The only way of directly communi- cating an idea is by means of an icon; and every indirect method of communicating an idea must depend for its establishment upon the use of an icon.” Peirce’s chef d’œuvre came shortly after these remarks into being as his diagrammatic system of existential graphs, a thoroughly iconic representation of and a way of reasoning about “moving pictures of thought”, which encompassed not only propositional and predicate logic, but also modalities, higher-order notions, abstraction and category-theoretic notions.
    [Show full text]
  • A Diagrammatic Approach to Peirce's Classifications of Signs
    A diagrammatic approach to Peirce’s classifications of signs1 Priscila Farias Graduate Program in Design (SENAC-SP & UFPE) [email protected] João Queiroz Graduate Studies Program on History, Philosophy, and Science Teaching (UFBA/UEFS) Dept. of Computer Engineering and Industrial Automation (DCA/FEEC/UNICAMP) [email protected] © This paper is not for reproduction without permission of the author(s). ABSTRACT Starting from an analysis of two diagrams for 10 classes of signs designed by Peirce in 1903 and 1908 (CP 2.264 and 8.376), this paper sets forth the basis for a diagrammatic understanding of all kinds of classifications based on his triadic model of a sign. Our main argument is that it is possible to observe a common pattern in the arrangement of Peirce’s diagrams of 3-trichotomic classes, and that this pattern should be extended for the design of diagrams for any n-trichotomic classification of signs. Once this is done, it is possible to diagrammatically compare the conflicting claims done by Peircean scholars re- garding the divisions of signs into 28, and specially into 66 classes. We believe that the most important aspect of this research is the proposal of a consolidated tool for the analysis of any kind of sign structure within the context of Peirce’s classifications of signs. Keywords: Peircean semiotics, classifications of signs, diagrammatic reasoning. 1. PEIRCE’S DIAGRAMS FOR 10 CLASSES OF SIGNS In a draft of a letter to Lady Welby composed by the end of December 1908 (dated 24-28 December, L463:132-146, CP 8.342-76, EP2:483-491; we will be referring to this diagram 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Postmodernism: Theorising Fragmentation and Uncertainty
    Chapter contents Friedrich Nietzsche 213 Bauman as postmodernist 234 `Gloss' and `disclaimers' in the What is a modern person? 237 writings of Jean-FrancËois The modern identity 238 Lyotard 217 Bauman: the critique of life Lyotard, The DiffeÂrend: in the postmodern condition 243 Phrases in Dispute (1988) 219 Deleuze and Guattari 244 Critique of Lyotard 221 Jean Baudrillard (1929± Richard Rorty 223 present) 259 Zygmunt Bauman 226 Gianni Vattimo (1936±present) 262 The creation of a Critiques of postmodernism 265 postmodernist 229 In conclusion: living in the Bauman as modernist 230 postmodern condition 270 Postmodernism: Theorising Fragmentation 6 and Uncertainty By the end of this chapter you should: · have a critical understanding of · be familiar with the key the notions of postmodernism and postmodern writers: Lyotard, postmodernity; Bauman, Baudrillard, Vattimo, · appreciate the signi®cance of Deleuze and Guattari, Rorty, and Nietzsche to postmodern Fish; theorising; · be aware of some of the central critiques of postmodernism: Sokal, Habermas, Giddens, Philo, Kellner. Friedrich Nietzsche riedrich Nietzsche (1844±1900) invented many of the central ideas and concepts which postmodern- F ism raises about the foundations of society. In particular, Nietzsche's anti-foundationalist ideas, built upon the assumption that `God is dead', together with his refusal to privilege his own position, have in¯uenced most of the postmodern writers that we shall review in this chapter. According to Anthony Giddens: `Nietzsche offers a refuge for those who have lost their modernist illusions without relapsing into complete cynicism or apathy' (Giddens, 1995: 261). Nietzsche attempted to undermine the foundations of truth, morality, science, identity and religion.
    [Show full text]
  • The Representation of Soil in the Western Art: from Genesis to Pedogenesis
    The representation of soil in the Western Art: From genesis to pedogenesis Christian FellerA, Lydie Chapuis-LardyA and Fiorenzo UgoliniB AInstitut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), UMR 210 Eco&Sols, SUPAGRO, Bâtiment 12, 2 Place Viala, 34060 Montpellier cedex 1, France. BUniversita Degli Studi, Dipartimento di Scienza del Suolo e Nutrizione della Pianta, Piazzale delle Cascine 16, Firenze, Italy. Abstract This communication is a chronological short history of Western art (mainly paintings) from Prehistory to the contemporary period through the word “Soil”. The conclusion is that the vision of Soil (in a scientific meaning), as an independent work of art, is recent. Key Words Soil, landscape, Western art, paintings. The websites allowing one to see the artworks are designated as [x] in the text; the links are provided in the references list. Soil (capitalized) or soil in Art? It is widely accepted that humans always have considered the natural environment a subject of great interest to art. Early pictorial examples include cave paintings done by Cro-Magnon man during the Upper Palaeolithic, about 30,000-40,000 years ago. However the vision of Soil (in a scientific meaning), as an independent work of art, is recent and still extremely rare in the world of painting. For many years, artists have depicted actual or imaginary landscapes from which the trained eye of a pedologist, agronomist or geographer can recognise a schematic view of what is commonly called soil but not Soil (as a Soil profile). This communication will: (i) show representations of Soil or soil in Western Art from the Palaeolithic to the modern era, and (ii) show some recent artworks where the Soil is considered as the main subject, and has as its goal to present Soil in art from Genesis (the Bible) to Pedogenesis (the scientific approach of the Soil formation, from the Greek word Pedon meaning soil) [1, 2].
    [Show full text]
  • The Johns Hopkins Metaphysical Club and Its Impact on the Development of the Philosophy and Methodology of Sciences in the Late 19Th-Century United States
    The Johns Hopkins Metaphysical Club and Its Impact on the Development of the Philosophy and Methodology of Sciences in the Late 19th-Century United States Ahti-Veikko Pietarinen & Jean-Marie Chevalier The Commens Working Papers Preprints, Research Reports & Scientific Communications Edited by Mats Bergman, Sami Paavola & João Queiroz No 2 Version 2 Published July 9, 2014 | Updated December 17, 2015 URL http://www.commens.org/papers/paper/pietarinen-ahti-veikko- chevalier-jean-marie-2014-johns-hopkins-metaphysical-club- and ISSN 2342-4532 License Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- ShareAlike The Johns Hopkins Metaphysical Club and Its Impact on the Development of the Philosophy and Methodology of Sciences in the Late 19th-Century United States Memorandum, 19 April 2014 - up-dated, with Appendices, April 2015 Ahti-Veikko Pietarinen, in collaboration with Jean-Marie Chevalier [email protected] Helsinki Peirce Research Centre, University of Helsinki Abstract This memorandum documents some of the most noteworthy facts concerning the Metaphysical Club meetings, which were presided over by Charles Peirce, at Johns Hopkins University from October 1879 until March 1885. The Club, which started out as a circle consisting of Peirce‘s own students in his logic class, held the total of 43 meetings, with 110 presentations delivered, of which 33 were classified as principal papers. These presentations, as we document in this paper, testify the club‘s impact on the development of the methodology of sciences in the late 19th-century United States. Of particular interest is the close relation of the new and emerging scientific approaches to philosophical, methodological and logical issues discussed by the Club‘s members.
    [Show full text]
  • Representation in Painting and Consciousness
    KEITH LEHRER REPRESENTATION IN PAINTING AND CONSCIOUSNESS Representation in the arts is a creative process of reconfiguring a subject, real or imagined, to yield some original content or inten- tional object. The first question about representation is – what is the question about representation? Gombrich (1972), Wollheim (1980), Goodman (1968), Walton (1990), and Lopes (1996), have offered us diverse theories of representation in the visual arts. They all contain interesting ideas and insights, but the diversity of theories suggests that they may be asking and answering different questions. Moreover, that should not surprise us at all, for the painter, as well as other artists have diverse goals, and one of those goals is to change our conception of representation, to modify and challenge the conventions and constraints of representation. Lopes (1996), for example, suggests that the fundamental form of representation is depiction, demotic picturing, that would enable one to recognize and identify the object depicted. We are indebted to Lopes for this important proposal, but demotic picturing may be opposed to artistic representation. The artist may start with the external subject as the stimulus to find some meaning, some feeling or emotion, some insight or idea, and so reconfigure and repattern what he or she has seen into something that has some new internal meaning or content. The stimulus for a painting, a model, for example, need not be depicted or be what the painting is about The content of a painting is one thing, and the model is something else. A painter is sometimes indifferent to producing a demotic picture of the model or subject, which has caused difficulties between famous portrait painters and those they portrayed, when what interests the artist is the reconfiguration or the reinterpretation of the model or subject.
    [Show full text]
  • A Prologue to Charles Sanders Peirce's Theory of Signs
    In Lieu of Saussure: A Prologue to Charles Sanders Peirce’s Theory of Signs E. San Juan, Jr. Language is as old as consciousness, language is practical consciousness that exists also for other men, and for that reason alone it really exists for me personally as well; language, like consciousness, only arises from the need, the necessity, of intercourse with other men. – Karl Marx, The German Ideology (1845-46) General principles are really operative in nature. Words [such as Patrick Henry’s on liberty] then do produce physical effects. It is madness to deny it. The very denial of it involves a belief in it. – C.S. Peirce, Harvard Lectures on Pragmatism (1903) The era of Saussure is dying, the epoch of Peirce is just struggling to be born. Although pragmatism has been experiencing a renaissance in philosophy in general in the last few decades, Charles Sanders Peirce, the “inventor” of this anti-Cartesian, scientific- realist method of clarifying meaning, still remains unacknowledged as a seminal genius, a polymath master-thinker. William James’s vulgarized version has overshadowed Peirce’s highly original theory of “pragmaticism” grounded on a singular conception of semiotics. Now recognized as more comprehensive and heuristically fertile than Saussure’s binary semiology (the foundation of post-structuralist textualisms) which Cold War politics endorsed and popularized, Peirce’s “semeiotics” (his preferred rubric) is bound to exert a profound revolutionary influence. Peirce’s triadic sign-theory operates within a critical- realist framework opposed to nominalism and relativist nihilism (Liszka 1996). I endeavor to outline here a general schema of Peirce’s semeiotics and initiate a hypothetical frame for interpreting Michael Ondaatje’s Anil’s’ Ghost, an exploratory or Copyright © 2012 by E.
    [Show full text]