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Volume 8 of this landmark edition follows Peirce from May 1890 through July 1892 -- a period of turmoil as his career unraveled at the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. The loss of his principal source of income meant the beginning of permanent penury and a lifelong struggle to find gainful employment. His key achievement during these years is his celebrated Monist metaphysical project, which consists of five classic articles on evolutionary cosmology. Also included are reviews and essays from The Nation in which Peirce critiques Paul Carus, William James, Auguste Comte, Cesare Lombroso, and Karl Pearson, and takes part in a famous dispute between Francis E. Abbot and Josiah Royce. Peirce's short philosophical essays, studies in non-Euclidean geometry and number theory, and his only known experiment in prose fiction complete his production during these years.

Peirce's 1883-1909 contributions to the Century Dictionary form the content of volume 7 which is forthcoming.

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Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914) is rapidly becoming recognized as the greatest American philosopher.At the center of his philosophy was a revolutionary model of the way human beings think.Peirce, a logician, challenged traditional models by describing thoughts not as "ideas" but as "signs," external to the self and without meaning unless interpreted by a subsequent thought.His general theory of signs—or semiotic—is especially pertinent to methodologies currently being debated in many disciplines.

This anthology, the first one-volume work devoted to Peirce's writings on semiotic, provides a much-needed, basic introduction to a complex aspect of his work.James Hoopes has selected the most authoritative texts and supplemented them with informative headnotes.His introduction explains the place of Peirce's semiotic in the history of philosophy and compares Peirce's theory of signs totheories developed in literature and linguistics. ... Read more

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Signs on
Selection of writings by Peirce. Short, clear introductions with every 'article'. Good have been longer. ... Read more

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Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914) was an American philosopher, physicist, mathematician, and the founder of pragmatism. Despire his importance in the history of philosophy, a unified statment of his thought has been unavailable. With this publication, readers at long last are offered the philosopher's only known, complete, and coherent account of his own work. Originally delivered as the Cambridge Conferences Lectures of 1898, Reasoning and the Logic of Things is the most accessible and thorough introduction to Peirce's mature thought to be found within the compass of a single book.

Beginning with an explanation of the nature of philosophy, Peirce proceeds to illustrate his claim that mathematics provides the foundation of our logic and metaphysics. We find here the clearest formulation of an idea present in Peirce's thought since the 1860s, the distinction between three kinds of reasoning: induction, deduction, and retroduction. Then follows an introduction to Peirce's chief logical doctrines, as well as his attempts to provide a classification of the sciences, a theory of categories, and a theory of science. In conclusion, turning from "reasoning" to the "logic of things," Peirce called for an evolutionary cosmology to explain the reality of laws and described the kinds of reasoning he employed in developing this cosmology.

At the urging of his friend William James, Peirce made an uncharacteristic effort in these lectures to present his ideas in terms intelligible to a general audience--those without advanced training in logic and philosophy. The introductory materials by Ketner and Putman add to the volume's lucidity. Consequently, this book will be a valuable source for readers outside of the circle of Peirce specialists.

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This succinct and lucid study examines the thought of the philosopher Charles Peirce as it applies to literary theory and shows that his concept of the sign can give us a fresh understanding of literary art and criticism. John Sheriff analyzes the treatment of determinate meaning and contends that as long as we cling to a notion of language that begins with Saussure's dyadic definition of signs, meaning cannot be treated as such any more than can essence or presence. Asserting that Peirce's less familiar position offers a way out of this difficulty, Sheriff first discusses the Saussurean-based theory of meaning and then argues for the advantages of the radically different triadic theory developed by Peirce.Part One of the work reviews and critiques the treatment of meaning in works by Jonathan Culler, Tzvetan Todorov, Stanley Fish, Roland Barthes, and Jacques Derrida, among others. The focus of this section is on the treatment of meaning in structural and post-structural theories and their common basis in Saussurean linguistics. Part Two provides a readable introduction to Peirce's general theory of signs and develops comprehensively the implications of his semiotic. The substitution of his theory for Saussure's opens our eyes to new and cogent answers to many questions relevant to the meaning of texts. ... Read more

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The philosophy of mathematics plays a vital role in the mature philosophy of Charles S. Peirce. Peirce received rigorous mathematical training from his father and his philosophy carries on in decidedly mathematical and symbolic veins. For Peirce, math was a philosophical tool and many of his most productive ideas rest firmly on the foundation of mathematical principles. This volume collects Peirce's most important writings on the subject, many appearing in print for the first time. Peirce's determination to understand matter, the cosmos, and "the grand design" of the universe remain relevant for contemporary students of science, technology, and symbolic logic.

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"Highly recommended." -- Choice

"... an important event for the world of philosophy. For the first time we have available in an intelligible form the writings of one of the greatest philosophers of the past hundred years." -- The Times Literary Supplement

Volume 5 of this landmark edition covers an important transition in Peirce's life, marked by a rekindled enthusiasm for speculative philosophy. The writings include essays relating to his all-embracing theory of categories as well as papers on logic and mathematics.

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Selected papers from the Harvard Congress commemorating the 150th anniversary of the birth of Charles Pierce. ... Read more

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A well written basic overview of Peirce's writing.
This book covers the early work of Charles SandersPeirce, the father of Pragmatism.Starting withhis seminal work on signs and triadic relations, this book covers a smattering of topics from the importance ofconveying what we mean to the concept of Pragmaticism. As the recognizedfounderof american philosophy, this book shows a diverse picture of thework created by this remarkable man. ... Read more

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The subject of this book is the thought of the American pragmatist and founder of semiotics, Charles Sanders Peirce. The book collects the papers presented to the International Conference Semiotics and Philosophy in C.S. Peirce (Milan, April 2005), together with some additional new contributions by well-known Peirce scholars, bearing witness to the vigour of Peircean scholarship in Italy and also hosting some of the most significant international voices on this topic. The book is introduced by the two editors and is divided into three sections, corresponding to the three main areas of the most interesting contemporary reflection on Peirce. Namely, Semiotics and the Logic of Inquiry (part I); Abduction and Philosophy of Mathematics (part II); Peirce and the Western Tradition. (part III). The analysis is carried out from a semiotic perspective, in which semiotics should not be understood as a specific doctrine but rather as the philosophical core of Peirceâs system. As we read in the introduction: âit is semiotics and philosophy or, rather, semiotics as philosophy and philosophy as semiotics, which emerge from a reading of these papersâ. ... Read more

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A convenient two-volume reader's edition makes accessible to students and scholars the most important philosophical papers of the brilliant American thinker Charles Sanders Peirce. Volume 1 presents twenty-five key texts, chronologically arranged, beginning with Peirce's On a New List of Categories of 1867, a highly regarded alternative to Kantian philosophy, and ending with the first sustained and systematic presentation of his evolutionary metaphysics in the Monist Metaphysical Series of 1891ETH1893. The book features a clear introduction and informative headnotes to help readers grasp the nature and significance of Peirce's thought system. Bringing together all the writings needed for the study of Peirce's systematic philosophy and its development, Volume 1 is ideal for classroom use. Volume 2, covering the period from 1894 until Peirce's death in 1914, will highlight the development of his system of signs and his mature pragmatism. ... Read more

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A Constellation of Logical Gems--and More
People interested in the history and philosophy of logic will want to own this tour-de-force of selecting and editing. It contains large parts of Peirce's two most important contributions to mathematical logic: the 1880 "On the Algebra of Logic" and the 1885 "On the Algebra of Logic: A Contribution to the Philosophy of Notation" --both published in the American Journal of Mathematics, the same journal that brought out Russell's 1908 paper on the theory of types. Besides these two technical papers, which were influential in the development of mathematical logic, it also contains several more papers essential to understanding Peirce's philosophy of logic.

Foundation material for how we think
I came to this book because I was inspired by "the Metaphysical Club" to learn more about the roots of pragmatism. The book is challenging. The Metaphysical Club points out that William James did not understand Peirce at first, so it is a bit much for mere mortals. It is especially daunting because the first essay is written with respect to Kant's categories, not something I know off of the top-of-my head.
However, as the books progresses many of the things that are assumed in the first essay are explained. For instance Peirce explains in detail what he means by a sign.

He discusses cognition, or consciousness and shows that logically our internal experience is based on external stimulation. It soon becomes impossible to ignore the fact that you are reading the works of a logician and that that is where he is coming from. But even though you might have to reread parts several times, once you master the arguements, it is satisfying indeed.

According to the introduction of the book and references, Peirce was influential. William James, Oliver Wendel Holmes and John Dewey were all influenced by him.Modern cognitive psychology owes much to William James. Psychology took a different direction through psychoanalysis and then behaviorism but cognitive psychology is now the dominate paradigm.Because of this Peirce has renewed importance.

My advice is to read it through once and not feel you have to get everything and the reread it because he explains things later that he assmes you know earlier. ... Read more

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What to Expect
Anyone interested in reading the philosophy of C.S. Pierce should know what they get in this edition. Many of Peirce's significant essays appear in this single, affordable volume and this is a credit to the editor's wise selection. He has, however, made some less desirable decisions:
First, the choice to arrange the material thematically rather than chronologically. The result is that sometimes, certain concepts or terms are mentioned BEFORE the original essay/paper that illuminated those ideas/terms/thoughts/etc.
Second, the choice to edit some of the essays for space. While what many consider Peirce's two most significant essays appear in their entirety ("How to Make Our Ideas Clear" and "Fixation of Belief") many others have paragraphs and/or entire pages missing.

The result is a volume that will suffice as an introduction to Peirce's thought (and even a little more) for the casual reader. For anyone interested in scholarship or deeper, comprehensive reading, and/or anyone simply prone to desire thoroughness, selecting another product will prove the more prudent decision.

Affordable "best of" the most influential U.S. philosopher
Someone once noted that the course of the average person's life is often determined by the ideas of thinkers of whom he/she has never heard.Charles Peirce, the father of Pragmatism, the most infuential 20th century philosophy ( the quintessentially American contribution to the canon of Western thought), and to a degree the modern scientific worldview, is such a figure.
Peirce's father was for many years chairman of the Math dept at Harvard, teacher to the plethora of great names and leaders who poured forth from that venerable institution to lead our nation through the mid 19th century.But Peirce's own professional aspirations were dashed by an unfortunate affair with the wife of a colleague during a brief tenure at Johns Hopkins, which led to his banishment from academe.For the duration of his rather long life (he died in 1914), he painfully eeked out a living in a government job and wrote some of the most powerful philosophy of all time.He lived outside of Cambridge, MA where a circle of young scholars who would rise to prominence (notably William James, who would, with Freud, essentially co-found the new science of psychology) gathered at his feet to imbibe the vision of a world that would come to be.
The thrust of Peirce's philosophy is the effort to place philosophy on a scientific basis. Peirce's belief was that the theoretical could only have value if practically applicable, and, in the words of the distinguished Buchler, who brilliantly edited, selected, and arranged the papers for this volume, "that the broadest speculative theories should be experimentally verifiable.This attitude rests on the conviction that philosophy is a branch of progressive inquiry rather than a species of art, and that the scientific method alone makes progressive inquiry possible."As opposed to intuitional, mystical, or strictly theoretical subjective processes of justification, prominent in the nineteeth century, Peirce extrolled the scientific method as a social, cooperative enterprise, where objective criteria could be established through processes of universal examination and consensus, by which we could honestly and openly take measure of the veracity of our ideas. Moreover, the scientific method was distinguished from other approaches, as "it conceives of its results as essentially provisional or corrigle" and thus "ensures measurable progress".This concept of "falliblism", the idea that no idea is beyond question, and no criterion for judgement, infallible, is the lynchpin of Peirce's democratization of thought, a gift for the ages.Thus Peirce's famous motto: "DO NOT BLOCK THE ROAD TO INQUIRY!"
These papers represent the finest issue of Peirce's massive output (much of which was unfortunately destroyed and/or lost)."The Fixation of Belief" and "How to Make Our Ideas Clear" ought to be read by anyone interested in participating in the democratic process.
Not to be overlooked is the eloquence, humor, and compassion found in these papers, and in testimony their effect, the greater part of us might agree with Peirce that, "We are, doubtless, in the main, logical animals, but we are not perfectly so." ... Read more

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Physicist, mathematician, and logician Charles S Peirce (1839-1914) was America's first internationally recognised philosopher, the man who created the concept of "pragmatism", popularised by William James. This is a comprehensive collection of the philosopher's writings including: "Questions Concerning Certain Faculties Claimed for Man" (1868), which outlines his theory of knowledge; a review of the works of George Berkeley; papers from between 1877 and 1905 developing the ground of pragmatism and Peirce's theory of scientific inquiry; his basic concept of metaphysics (1891-93); and the important 1902 articles in Baldwin's dictionary on his later pragmatism (or pragmaticism), uniformity, and synechism. Also included are Peirce's well-known essays: "The Fixation of Belief," and "How to Make Our Ideas Clear." ... Read more

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Splendid example of American Philosophy
Have you ever wondered what makes America?What is patriotism?What is right and wrong within YOUR society? Peirce helps in your discovery of who you are among your people.He preaches, but as any good philosopher,expects his readers to think hard.Not for beginners, but entertaining. ... Read more

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Biographer Joseph Brent refines his interpretation of the thought and character of Charles Sanders Peirce based on new research. "An extraordinary, inspiring portrait of the largely forgotten Peirce, a progenitor of modern thought who devised a realist metaphysics and attempted to achieve direct knowledge of God by applying the logic of science".--PUBLISHERS WEEKLY. Includes new glossary and detailed chronology. 36 photos. ... Read more

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Terrific insight into the man behind the philosophy
This book contains a great deal of information on the life of a sadly-neglected philosopher; one of the most brilliant Americans of the 19th century.Dr. Brent has a wonderful, at times even poetic, writingstyle, and he has "lived" with Peirce so long that he hasexcellent insight into the man behind the philosophy. Struggling throughPeirce in a class?This book may not make his philosophy"easy"--but it will make him more human.

Excellent
This is a very good biography of an overlooked great American thinker.Mr. Brent does a good job of recounting the life of Peirce without getting bogged down in the details of Peirce's philosophy which is well documentedin several other books. The book also attempts to analyze Peirce'sbehavoir and why he failed as an academic, something that desperatelyneeded to be done.As Peirce's reputation inevitatably increases, thisbiography will become a classic reference to this very interestingAmerican. ... Read more

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"The volumes are handsomely produced and carefully edited,... For the first time we have available in an intelligible form the writings of one of the greatest philosophers of the past hundred years... " -- The Times Literary Supplement

"... an extremely handsome and impressive book; it is an equally impressive piece of scholarship and editing." -- Man and World

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This is the first study of Charles Peirce's philosophy as a form of writing and the first study of his pragmatic writings as a critique of the modern attempt to change society by writing philosophy. Ochs argues that, as corrected by the pragmatists, the task of modern philosophy is, through writing, to diagram the otherwise hidden rules through which modern sociey repairs itself.Peirce labelled this elemental writing "enscribing," or "scripture." Redescribing Peirce's pragmatism as "the logic of scripture," Peter Ochs suggests that Christians and Jews may in fact re-read pragmatism as a logic of Scripture: that is, as a modern philosopher's way of diagramming the Bible's rules for repairing broken lives and healing societal suffering. ... Read more

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Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914), the founder of pragmatism, is generally considered the most significant American philosopher. Popularized by William James and John Dewey, pragmatism advocates that our philosophical theories be linked to experience and practice.The essays in this volume reveal how Peirce developed this concept. ... Read more

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"This definitive text is the single best work on Peirce's semeiotic (as Peirce would have spelled it) allowing scholars to extrapolate beyond Peirce or to apply him to new areas..." -- Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy Newsletter

"... indispensable introduction to Peirce's semiotics." -- Teaching Philosophy

"Both for students new to Peirce and for the advanced student, this is an excellent and unique reference book. It should be available in libraries at all... colleges and universities." -- Choice

"The best and most balanced full account of Peirce's semiotic which contributes not only to semiotics but to philosophy. Liszka's book is the sourcebook for scholars in general." -- Nathan Houser

Although 19th-century philosopher and scientist Charles Sanders Peirce was a prolific writer, he never published his work on signs in any organized fashion, making it difficult to grasp the scope of his thought. In this book, Liszka presents a systematic and comprehensive acount of Peirce's theory, including the role of semiotic in the system of sciences, with a detailed analysis of its three main branches -- grammar, critical logic, and universal rhetoric.