Monthly Archives: June 2012

Approaching Peirce

I gradually grow accustomed to the distinct possibility that there will always be different readings, and even divergent interpretations of Peirce’s writings. Some of that appears to be a two- or three-cultures issue — the readings that befit aesthetic, cultural, … Continue reading

Posted in Anthem, Inquiry, Logic, Mathematics, Peirce, Science, Semiotics | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Peircean Semiotics and Triadic Sign Relations : 2

When I returned to grad school for the third time around, this time in a systems engineering program, I had in mind integrating many of my old projects investigating the dynamics of information, inquiry, learning, and reasoning, considering these processes … Continue reading

Posted in C.S. Peirce, Inquiry, Logic of Relatives, Peirce, Relation Theory, Semiotics, Sign Relations | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Peircean Semiotics and Triadic Sign Relations • 1

As a “guide for the perplexed”, at least when it comes to semiotics, I will use this thread to collect a budget of links to various papers, blog posts, and list posts I think have served to clarify the topic … Continue reading

Posted in C.S. Peirce, Inquiry, Logic of Relatives, Relation Theory, Semiotics, Sign Relations, Triadic Relations | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Pseudo-Choice

Choices at one level of freedom depend on enabling or prerequisite choices being available at more basic levels of freedom. A situation of Pseudo-Choice is created when you offer people a choice at a high level of freedom without ensuring … Continue reading

Posted in Commerce, Democracy, Education, Governance, Rhetoric, The Big Picture | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Place Where Three Wars Meet

One of the interesting things about the curse of our nation’s interesting times is the chance we have to observe how that triple threat — the War on Democracy, the War on Education, and the War on Science — work … Continue reading

Posted in Democracy, Education, Governance, Information, Inquiry, Science, The Big Picture | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

How Did It Come To This?

What brought us to this pass is the simple fact that too many people who take the most good from operating in a civilized, democratic, educated society have chosen not to pay for the goods they receive. These people harbor … Continue reading

Posted in Democracy, Education, Governance, The Big Picture | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

The Unmet Challenge of Peirce’s Work

NB. I am posting these incipient thoughts as a promissory note, in hopes of nudging myself to develop the theme as time goes by. The Unrealized Potential of Peirce’s Thought One of my main philosophical and practical concerns for many … Continue reading

Posted in Anthem, Inquiry, Peirce | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

C.S. Peirce • Of Triadic Being

Selection from C.S. Peirce, “Some Amazing Mazes, Fourth Curiosity” (c. 1909) Of triadic Being the multitude of forms is so terrific that I have usually shrunk from the task of enumerating them; and for the present purpose such an enumeration would … Continue reading

Posted in Logic, Logic of Relatives, Mathematics, Peirce, References, Relation Theory, Semiotics, Sources | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Definition and Determination • 8

Re: Peirce List • Jim Willgoose (1) (2) The most general meaning of “formal” is “concerned with form”, but the Latin “forma” can mean “beauty” in addition to “form”, so perhaps a normative “goodness of form” enters at this root. … Continue reading

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Definition and Determination • 7

Peirce clearly set great store by his 1902 definition of logic as formal semiotic, whose principles he proposed to deduce by evident and rigorous mathematical reasoning from his triadic relational definition of a sign. It is from this definition, together … Continue reading

Posted in C.S. Peirce, Definition, Determination, Inquiry, Logic, Mathematics, Peirce, Phenomenology, Semiotics | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments