Peirce on Semiosis and Inquiry

Peirce’s theory of truth depends on two other, intimately related subject matters, his theory of sign relations and his theory of inquiry.  Inquiry is special case of semiosis, a process passing from signs to signs while maintaining a specific relation to an object.  That object may be located outside the trajectory of signs or else be found at the end of it.  Inquiry includes all forms of belief revision and logical inference, including scientific method, which is what Peirce means by “the right method of transforming signs”.

A sign‑to‑sign transaction with respect to an object is a transaction involving three parties, or a relation involving three roles.  A relation of that sort is called a ternary relation or a triadic relation in logic.  Consequently, pragmatic theories of truth are largely expressed in terms of triadic truth predicates.

The statement above tells us one more thing:  Peirce, having started out in accord with Kant, is here giving notice he is parting ways with Kant’s idea that the ultimate object of a representation is an unknowable thing‑in‑itself.  Peirce would say the object is knowable, in fact, it is known in the form of its representation, however imperfectly or partially.

Reality and truth are coordinate concepts in pragmatic thinking, each being defined in relation to the other, and both together as they co‑evolve in the time evolution of inquiry.  Inquiry is not a disembodied process, nor the occupation of a singular individual, but the common life of an unbounded community.

The real, then, is that which, sooner or later, information and reasoning would finally result in, and which is therefore independent of the vagaries of me and you.  Thus, the very origin of the conception of reality shows that this conception essentially involves the notion of a COMMUNITY, without definite limits, and capable of an indefinite increase of knowledge.  (Peirce 1868, CP 5.311).

Different minds may set out with the most antagonistic views, but the progress of investigation carries them by a force outside of themselves to one and the same conclusion.  This activity of thought by which we are carried, not where we wish, but to a foreordained goal, is like the operation of destiny.  No modification of the point of view taken, no selection of other facts for study, no natural bent of mind even, can enable a man to escape the predestinate opinion.  This great law is embodied in the conception of truth and reality.  The opinion which is fated to be ultimately agreed to by all who investigate, is what we mean by the truth, and the object represented in this opinion is the real.  That is the way I would explain reality.  (Peirce 1878, CP 5.407).

Resources

• Logic Syllabus
• Pragmatic Maxim
• Truth Theory
• Pragmatic Theory Of Truth
  • Document History
• Correspondence Theory Of Truth

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