Writings of Charles S. Peirce: A Chronological Edition, Vol. 8: 1890–1892

825 Pages·2009·8.8 MB·English

by  Charles S. Peirce

PHILOSOPHy
(continued from front flap) Writings of
to find gainful employment: writing book reviews Charles s. PeirCe
for the Nation, striking a deal with the Open Court Known as the founder of pragmatism, Charles S. Peirce (1839–1914) is ac-
a ChronologiCal edition
Company for the serial publication of philosophi-
knowledged worldwide as one of America’s most rigorous, versatile, and original
cal articles and for the production of an arithme- Volume 8,1890–1892
tic textbook, improving a chemical process for thinkers. He has become a stimulating influence on philosophers, scientists, and hu-
Writings of

bleaching paper (and getting swindled out of it), manists on every continent. He left behind a large corpus: more than 12,000 pages Peerless in American intellectual history,
patenting several inventions, resurrecting a cor- Charles s. PeirCe Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1914) made contri-
in publications and ten times as many pages in unpublished manuscripts, covering Writings of
respondence course in logic, entering the lecture butions to logic and philosophy so potent and fer-
a ChronologiCal edition
circuit, applying for university positions or fed- all manner of topics in the hard sciences (including mathematics, geodesy, physics, tile that the harvest of their fruits may never be
eral grants, and pursuing ill-conceived investment chemistry, and astronomy) and the humanities (including logic, philosophy, meta- fully reaped. The multiform influence of his ideas
schemes. Peirce tried them all with much hope physics, cosmology, history of philosophy and of the sciences, linguistics, semiotics, Volume 8 Charles S. Peirce has been steadily spreading across many lands,
but ended up learning a hard spiritual lesson: he 1890–1892 and the contemporary relevance of his investiga-
would have to forego material success to fulfill his and psychology). tions is being felt increasingly in many disci-
destiny, one written in intellectual achievements plines, including most of the fundamental branch-
purposed only for posterity. es of philosophy, semiotics, linguistics, semantics,
The Peirce Edition Project aims to produce a 30-volume print edition of Peirce’s
A CHRONOLOGICAL EDITION
The principal philosophical achievement her- communication and information sciences, educa-
alded in the present volume is Peirce’s celebrated writings as well as a companion electronic edition. Writings of Charles S. Peirce is tion, psychology, cognitive sciences, history of sci-
Monist metaphysical project, consisting of five a selective but comprehensive chronological and critical edition designed to docu- Volume 8 ence, logic of discovery, mathematics, computing,
classic articles that lay out the chief operative prin- anthropology, sociology, economics, and game
ment the development of Peirce’s thought and promote the critical study of his in- 1890–1892
ciples of an evolutionary cosmology resting on the theory.
reality of absolute chance (tychism), continuity tellectual growth and interdisciplinary impact. The edition covers the full range of This landmark critical edition includes a large
(synechism), and love (agapism), relieved against Peirce’s texts across the humanities and the sciences. All texts undergo an exacting selection of previously unpublished texts and
the background of a three-category realism that gives fair share to Peirce’s philosophical, logical,
critical-editing process that includes multiple stages of proofreading and error cor-
ushers in Peirce’s objective idealism. Those five mathematical, and scientific writings. To facilitate
papers are published afresh along with four addi- rections, consultations with specialists, and applications of a consistent set of edit- understanding of the incremental evolution of his
tional unpublished texts that enhance their under- ing procedures vetted by inspectors of the MLA’s Committee for Scholarly Editions. thought, his writings are presented chronologi-
standing. cally according to the date of publication or, when
The core of the edition consists of clear texts that have been scrupulously emended
The volume includes also eighteen Nation re- the source text is a manuscript, the date of com-
views or essays in which Peirce critiques such au- according to established critical standards that ensure closest fidelity to the author’s position. But to preserve and reflect the coherence
thors as Paul Carus, William James, Auguste Comte, intended expression; a historical and intellectual introduction; abundant annota- and continuity of Peirce’s thought within defined
Cesare Lombroso, and Karl Pearson, or takes part periods, the editors occasionally depart from strict
tions; a chronological documentary catalog and a bibliography of Peirce’s referenc-
in controversy, notably the famous dispute between chronological arrangement by grouping papers
Francis E. Abbot and Josiah Royce. Many other es; complete transcription records and the attendant apparatus of text genealogies, that are best read sequentially.
documents make here their first appearance: short textual notes, lists of editorial emendations, authorial alterations, and rejected sub- Volume 8 of this edition picks up the trail of
philosophical essays that try out new ideas, studies Peirce’s writings where volume 6 ended, in May
stantives; a discussion of editorial theory and policy; and a scholarly index. A large
in non-Euclidean geometry and number theory, 1890, and follows it until the end of July 1892
further explorations of Boolean algebra and the number of documents appear in each volume for the first time. (Peirce’s 1883–1909 contributions to the Century
algebra of the copula, studies of great men, classi- Dictionary form the content of volume 7). The ab-
fication of the sciences, and discussions of moral sence of any scientific report in the volume attests
issues. Especially noteworthy is Peirce’s only known Compiled by the editorial staff of the Peirce Edition Project, to the unraveling of Peirce’s career at the U.S. Coast
experiment in prose fiction, his sentimental tale School of Liberal Arts, Indiana University, Indianapolis and Geodetic Survey; the tale of his final struggles
“Embroidered Thessaly,” which recounts the ad- with the Survey’s Superintendent, culminating in
ventures of a young man traveling through Thes- Peirce’s resignation at the end of 1891, is vividly
saly in 1863. recounted throughout the introduction. The end-
ing of a career that had brought him an interna-
Jacket image: Photogravure of Charles S. Peirce made from a INDIANA tional reputation as a scientist threw Peirce’s life
photograph taken by Napoleon Sarony in December 1891 and 90000>
INDIANA into turmoil. The loss of his principal source of in-
published in August 1892 in Sun and Shade
University Press UNIv ERSITy come meant the beginning of permanent penury,
PRESS and thus of daily strenuous but often futile efforts
INDIANA Bloomington & Indianapolis
(continued on back flap)
UNIv ERSITy
PRESS www.iupress.indiana.edu
1-800-842-6796 9 780253 372086
Writings of Charles S. Peirce
Volume 8
On 12 August 1892, the sophisticated art periodical Sun and Shade published this photogravure of
Peirce with a biographical note extolling his achievements as a scientist and mathematician. The
gravure had been made from a photograph taken the year before by the famous photographer
Napoleon Sarony (1821–1896). The Sun and Shade featured a few figures in each issue, generally
favoring literary types—earlier issues, for example, had featured James Russell Lowell, Lew Wal-
lace, Walt Whitman, and W. D. Howell.
Writings of
CHARLES S. PEIRCE
A CHRONOLOGICAL EDITION
Volume 8
1890–1892
EDITED BY THE PEIRCE EDITION PROJECT
NATHAN HOUSER, General Editor ANDRÉ DE TIENNE, Editor
JONATHAN R. ELLER, Textual Editor CORNELIS DE WAAL, Associate Editor
ALBERT C. LEWIS, Associate Editor DIANA REYNOLDS, Editorial Associate
JOSEPH KAPOSTA, Editorial Associate LUISE H. MORTON, Research Associate
KELLY TULLY-NEEDLER, Assist. Textual Editor LEAH CUMMINS GUINN, Technical Editor
Indiana University Press
Bloomington and Indianapolis
Preparation of this volume has been supported in part by grants from the Program for Editions of
the National Endowment for the Humanities, an independent federal agency.
© 2010 by Peirce Edition Project
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, elec-
tronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information
storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The
Association of American University Presses’ Resolution on Permissions constitutes the
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The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
materials, ANSI Z39.48–1984.
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Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Peirce, Charles S. (Charles Sanders), 1839–1914.
Writings of Charles S. Peirce
Vol. 8– : Peirce Edition Project
Includes bibliographies and indexes.
Contents: v. 1. 1857–1866.—v. 2. 1867–1871.—
[etc.]—v. 8. 1890–1892
1. Philosophy. I. Peirce Edition Project
II. Title
B945.P4 1982 191 79–1993
ISBN-10: 0-253-37201-1 (v. 1)
ISBN-13: 978-0-253-37201-7 (v. 1)
ISBN-13: 978-0-253-37208-6 (v. 8)
1 2 3 4 5 14 13 12 11 10
The Peirce Edition Project
Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis
Editors
Nathan Houser, General Editor & Director
André De Tienne, Editor & Associate Director
Jonathan Eller, Textual Editor
Cornelis de Waal, Associate Editor
Albert C. Lewis, Associate Editor
Joseph D. Kaposta, Editorial Associate
Diana Dial Reynolds, Editorial Associate
Luise H. Morton, Research Associate
Kelly Tully-Needler, Assistant Textual Editor*
Leah Cummins Guinn, Technical Editor**
Contributing Editors
(Vol. 8)
Irving Anellis Carl Hausman
Peder V. Christiansen José Vericat
Randall Dipert
Advisory Board
John D. Barlow Jaime Nubiola
Joseph L. Brent Klaus Oehler
Arthur W. Burks✝ Helmut Pape
Vincent Colapietro Hilary Putnam
Don L. Cook Joseph Ransdell
Joseph Dauben Don D. Roberts
Randall Dipert Richard Robin
Umberto Eco Sandra Rosenthal
Susan Haack Lucia Santaella
Karen Hanson Israel Scheffler
Peter Hare✝ Michael Shapiro
Robert H. Hirst Thomas L. Short, Chair
Christopher Hookway William A. Stanley
Paul Nagy James Van Evra
* served from 2004 to 2006
**served until September 2000

Contents
Illustrations x
Preface xi
Chronology xix
Bibliographical Abbreviations in Editorial Matter xxiii
Introduction xxv
1. Familiar Letters about the Art of Reasoning 1
2. Ribot’s Psychology of Attention 13
3. Six Lectures of Hints toward a Theory of the 17
Universe
4. Sketch of a New Philosophy 19
5. [On Framing Philosophical Theories] 23
6. The Non-Euclidean Geometry Made Easy 25
7. Review of Jevons’s Pure Logic 30
8. Review of Carus’s Fundamental Problems 33
9. Review of Muir’s The Theory of Determinants 36
10. Review of Fraser’s Locke 38
11. [Notes on the First Issue of the Monist] 42
12. My Life 44
13. Note on Pythagorean Triangles 47
14. Hints toward the Invention of a Scale-Table 48
15. Logical Studies of the Theory of Numbers 55
16. Promptuarium of Analytical Geometry 57
17. Boolian Algebra 63
18. Boolian Algebra. First Lection 69
19. Notes on the Question on the Existence of an 78
External World
vii
viii Contents
20. [Note on Kant’s Refutation of Idealism] 80
21. [Notes on Consciousness] 81
THE MONIST METAPHYSICAL PROJECT
22. The Architecture of Theories [Initial Version] 84
23. The Architecture of Theories 98
24. The Doctrine of Necessity Examined 111
25. The Law of Mind [Early Try] 126
26. The Law of Mind [Excursus on the Idea of Time] 130
27. The Law of Mind 135
28. [Notes for “Man’s Glassy Essence”] 158
29. Man’s Glassy Essence 165
30. Evolutionary Love 184
STUDIES ON THE ALGEBRA OF THE COPULA
31. [Deductions from a Definition of the Copula] 208
32. Algebra of the Copula [Version 1] 210
33. Algebra of the Copula [Version 2] 212
34. Examination of the Copula of Inclusion 217
35. On the Number of Dichotomous Divisions: A Prob- 222
lem in Permutations
36. Methods of Investigating the Constant of Space 229
37. James’s Psychology 231
38. [Morality and Church Creed] 240
39. Review of Spencer’s Essays 242
40. Abbot against Royce 245
41. Review of Chambers’s Pictorial Astronomy 248
42. [Lesson in Necessary Reasoning] 251
43. The Great Men of History 258
44. The Comtist Calendar 267
45. The Non-Euclidean Geometry 271
46. The Sciences in Their Order of Generality 275
47. The Man of Genius 277
48. The Periodic Law 284
Contents ix
49. Keppler 286
50. [Plan for a Scientific Dictionary] 292
51. Embroidered Thessaly 296
52. [Why Do We Punish Criminals?] 341
53. Review of Buckley’s Moral Teachings of Science 345
54. Review of Ridgeway’s The Origin of Metallic Cur- 349
rency
55. Review of Pearson’s The Grammar of Science 352
56. Review of Curry’s The Province of Expression 355
Editorial Symbols 359
Annotations 362
Bibliography of Peirce’s References 470
Chronological Catalog, May 1890–July 1892 480
Supplementary Catalog Entries 511
Essay on Editorial Theory and Method 515
Textual Apparatus 532
Headnotes, Textual Notes, Emendations, Rejected
Substantives, Alterations, Line-End Hyphenation
Line-End Hyphenation in the Edition Text 679
Index 681