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'''Charles Sanders Peirce''' (1839 – 1914)<ref> pronounced "purse"</ref> was an American logician, mathematician, philosopher, scientist and [[Polymath]]. [[William James]] and other pragmatists credited Peirce as [[Pragmatism]]'s founder. Peirce eventually distinguished his own version as "Pragmaticism". He held that a conception's meaning is general and does not boil down to its actual consequences (or "cash value") but consists in the conceived object's ''conceivable'' practical consequences. He disagreed with other Pragmatists over what he called their "angry hatred of strict logic" and their views that, among other things, "truth is mutable" and "infinity is unreal".<ref>Peirce, C.S. (1908), "A Neglected Argument for the Reality of God", ''Hibbert Journal'' vol. 7, pp. 90-112. Reprinted in ''Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Peirce'' vol. 6, paragraphs 452-485 and ''The Essential Peirce'' vol. 2, pp.434-450.</ref>. For a while he was a professor at the new graduate university, Johns Hopkins. There he taught logic to [[John Dewey]], who became a leader of the liberal wing of pragmatism. Peirce himself was quite conservative when it came to social and economic issues.<ref> See Short (2001)</ref>
'''Charles Sanders Peirce''' (1839 – 1914)<ref> pronounced "purse"</ref> was an American logician, mathematician, philosopher, scientist and [[Polymath]]<ref> He wrote important essays on logic, pragmatism, metaphysics, mathematics, geodesy, religion, astronomy, and chemistry. He also wrote on psychology, early English and classical Greek pronunciation, psychical research, criminology, the history of science, ancient history, Egyptology, and Napoleon, prepared a thesaurus and an editor's manual, and did translations from Latin and German.</ref> [[William James]] and other pragmatists credited Peirce as [[Pragmatism]]'s founder. Peirce eventually distinguished his own version as "Pragmaticism". He held that a conception's meaning is general and does not boil down to its actual consequences (or "cash value") but consists in the conceived object's ''conceivable'' practical consequences. He disagreed with other Pragmatists over what he called their "angry hatred of strict logic" and their views that, among other things, "truth is mutable" and "infinity is unreal".<ref>Peirce, C.S. (1908), "A Neglected Argument for the Reality of God", ''Hibbert Journal'' vol. 7, pp. 90-112. Reprinted in ''Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Peirce'' vol. 6, paragraphs 452-485 and ''The Essential Peirce'' vol. 2, pp.434-450.</ref>. From 1879 to 1884 he was a lecturer at the new graduate university, Johns Hopkins. There he taught logic to Christine Ladd-Franklin and to [[John Dewey]], who became a leader of the liberal wing of pragmatism. Peirce himself was quite conservative when it came to social and economic issues.<ref> See Short (2001)</ref>
==Career==
==Career==
Peirce was home-schooled by his father, Benjamin Peirce, a Harvard professor and the nation's leading mathematician. Benjamin especially taught Charles how to solve increasingly complex math and logic problems. He graduated from Harvard College in 1859 with mediocre grades; he later earned degrees in chemistry and biology with distinction. He became a research scientist with the United States Coast Survey, 1861-1891, doing research on gravity. At the same time he taught and did research at Harvard in logic and astronomy.
Peirce was home-schooled by his father, Benjamin Peirce, a Harvard professor and the nation's leading mathematician. Benjamin especially taught Charles how to solve increasingly complex math and logic problems. He graduated from Harvard College in 1859 with mediocre grades; he later earned degrees in chemistry and biology with distinction. He became a research scientist with the United States Coast Survey, 1861-1891, doing research on gravity. At the same time he taught and did research at Harvard in logic and astronomy.
Peirce described himself when a senior at college as being vain, snobbish, uncivil, reckless, lazy, and ill-tempered. Lazy he was not, but the other charecteristcs made him unfit for a permanent faculty appointment anywhere. He inherited some money in 1887 and took his books and his second wife Juliette to what he called "the wildest county of the Northern States", near Milford, Pennsylvania. He wrote many articles for dictionaries and encyclopedias, which paid money in those days, but not enough to escape poverty.
==Logic==
==Logic==
==Pragmatism==
==Pragmatism==
Peirce was the creator if "Pragmatism;" it emerged from his many discussions in Cambridge at a "metaphysical club" founded in the 1870s. Most influential on peirce were [[Chauncey Wright]], a philosopher; [[William James]], Peirce's lifelong friend and benefactor; and Nicholas St. John Green, a lawyer and follower of utilitarian philosopher [[Jeremy Bentham]] who interpreted doctrines in terms of their effect upon social life. Peirce began reading philosophy and by 1871 he was converted to the version of realism originally propounded by medieval philosopher [[Duns Scotus]]. Peirce remained a realist in philosophy all his life. His first major statement appeared in ''Popular Science Monthly'' in January 1878, under the title "How to Make Our Ideas Clear."<ref> see [http://www.peirce.org/writings/p119.html "How to Make Our Ideas Clear," by Charles S. Peirce; ''Popular Science Monthly'' 12 (January 1878), 286-302]</ref>
In 1898 William James first publicly used the term "pragmatism" and acknowledged Peirce's priority. Peirce's pragmatism, however, is not the same as James's; it has more in common with the somewhat independently developed idealism of [[Josiah Royce]] and the later views of John Dewey. Peirce shared many of the views characteristic of the pragmatic school, developing them in his own fashion. He belived in the dependence of logic on ethics, argued as early as 1868 against individualism and egoism, and developed social theories of reality and logic.
Pragmatism allows ideas to have any origin; what matters is not where we got an idea from but where we can go with it. In the case of science the usefulness of an idea includes reliability and fruitfulness. "Fruitfulness" does not mean practical utility but, rather, the opening up of original lines of successful research.As reliability is to truth, so fruitfulness is to depth and breadth of understanding. The test of truth and fruitfulness lies in the future. Truth, for the pragmatist, depends on our developing the implications of ideas so that we can find ways of applying them experimentally.<ref> See Short (2001)</ref>
Pragmatism allows ideas to have any origin; what matters is not where we got an idea from but where we can go with it. In the case of science the usefulness of an idea includes reliability and fruitfulness. "Fruitfulness" does not mean practical utility but, rather, the opening up of original lines of successful research.As reliability is to truth, so fruitfulness is to depth and breadth of understanding. The test of truth and fruitfulness lies in the future. Truth, for the pragmatist, depends on our developing the implications of ideas so that we can find ways of applying them experimentally.<ref> See Short (2001)</ref>
* Peirce, Charles Sanders. ''Peirce on Signs: Writings on Semiotics'' (1991) [http://www.amazon.com/Peirce-Signs-Writings-Semiotic-Charles/dp/0807843423/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239829331&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Peirce, Charles Sanders. ''Peirce on Signs: Writings on Semiotics'' (1991) [http://www.amazon.com/Peirce-Signs-Writings-Semiotic-Charles/dp/0807843423/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239829331&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Peirce, Charles Sanders. ''The Essential Peirce: Selected Philosophical Writings, 1893-1913'' ed. Nathan Houser, and Jonathan R. Eller (2vol 1992-98) [http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Peirce-Selected-Philosophical-1893-1913/dp/0253211905/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239829331&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search]; [http://www.iupui.edu/~peirce/ep/ep.htm online edition]
* Peirce, Charles Sanders. ''The Essential Peirce: Selected Philosophical Writings, 1893-1913'' ed. Nathan Houser, and Jonathan R. Eller (2vol 1992-98) [http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Peirce-Selected-Philosophical-1893-1913/dp/0253211905/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239829331&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search]; [http://www.iupui.edu/~peirce/ep/ep.htm online edition]
* Peirce, Charles Sanders. ''Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Peirce'' (6 vol.) [http://www.iupui.edu/~peirce/writings/crit.htm electronic version]
* Peirce, Charles Sanders. ''Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Peirce'' (6 vol. 1931-36) [http://www.iupui.edu/~peirce/writings/crit.htm electronic version]