Author Archives: Jon Awbrey

Notes on the Foundations of Mathematics • 1

Re: Peirce List Discussions 2012 • (1) • (2) • (3) • (4) Cf: Previous Discussions 2005–2006 • (A) • (B) • (C) I will have to be off and on the internet for the next month or so, and … Continue reading

Posted in C.S. Peirce, Foundations of Mathematics, Kaina Stoicheia, Logic, Mathematics, Semiotics | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

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, C.P. Snow, C.S. Peirce, Inquiry, Logic, Mathematics, Science, Semiotics | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Peircean Semiotics and Triadic Sign Relations • 2

When I returned to graduate school for the third time around, this time in systems engineering, I had in mind integrating my long‑standing projects investigating the dynamics of information, inquiry, learning, and reasoning, viewing each as a process whose trajectory evolves … Continue reading

Posted in C.S. Peirce, Inquiry, Logic, Logic of Relatives, Relation Theory, Semiotics, Sign Relations | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Peircean Semiotics and Triadic Sign Relations • 1

As a “guide for the perplexed”, at least when it comes to semiotics, I’ll use this thread to collect a budget of resources I think have served to clarify the topic in the past. By way of a first offering, … Continue reading

Posted in C.S. Peirce, Inquiry, Logic, Logic of Relatives, Relation Theory, Semiotics, Sign Relations | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 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 | Tagged , , , , , | 8 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

Posted in C.S. Peirce, Definition, Determination, Inquiry, Logic, Mathematics, Peirce, Phenomenology, Semiotics | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments