Book Description
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914) is rapidly becoming recognized as the greatest American philosopher.At the center of his philosophy was a revolutionary model of the way human beings think.Peirce, a logician, challenged traditional models by describing thoughts not as "ideas" but as "signs," external to the self and without meaning unless interpreted by a subsequent thought.His general theory of signs—or semiotic—is especially pertinent to methodologies currently being debated in many disciplines.

This anthology, the first one-volume work devoted to Peirce's writings on semiotic, provides a much-needed, basic introduction to a complex aspect of his work.James Hoopes has selected the most authoritative texts and supplemented them with informative headnotes.His introduction explains the place of Peirce's semiotic in the history of philosophy and compares Peirce's theory of signs totheories developed in literature and linguistics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Signs on
Selection of writings by Peirce. Short, clear introductions with every 'article'. Good have been longer. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

An American Philosopher in the Grand Manner
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839 -1914) was an eccentric American genius and the founder of the philosophy generally known as pragmatism.A difficult, erratic, and sometimes violent man, he was denied in his attempts to secure an academic position and spent the last several years of his life in near isolation at his home, called Arisbe, near Milford, Pennsylvania. Peirce may be America's most significant philosopher.Yet he never produced a book.His reputation, insofar as it is based on his written work, is based on essays he wrote throughout his life and on large manuscripts which his admirers saw through to publication beginning shortly after his death.

Professor Kenneth Ketner, the author of this "autobiography" of Peirce, is an acknoledged authority on Peirce's life and thought. He calls this book, "His Glassy Essence" an "autobiography" because it is based in large part upon a selection of Peirce's writings and letters arranged to tell the story of his life.As Professor Ketner states, however, the book is also in part fiction.It includes three fictitious characters, the narrator, Ike, a writer of mysteries, his wife Betsey, a nurse, and Roy, a Harvard PhD in philosophy who allegedly knew and studied with Peirce.The story line involves Ike taking an interest in Peirce based upon an old box of Peirce's papers that Betsey has inherited.Roy comes into the story to provide information about Peirce and, not accidentally, some excellent discussions on the nature of philosophy.

The mechanism creaks at times.The story line is artificial although Roy has many insightful things to say in commenting on Peirce.It is difficult to separate fact from fiction in the account of Peirce because many of his letters and essays seem to be melded together from sources written at different times and places.Ketner's protestations notwithstanding, it is difficult to be convinced of the accuracy of the account presented here as scholarly biography.Finally, this book covers essentially only the first 28 years of Peirce's life (with forwards to his death and to some of his subsequent writings.) There are two promised sequels which are to continue the story through the remainder of Peirce's life.

For all the difficulties, I came away from this book with a better understanding of Peirce and some inkling of the development of his thought.Peirce's own distinctive ideas beging to be developed only in the last third or so of this book.The earlier sections deal largely with Peirce's years in college when he was deeply under the influence of Kant.

The book makes a good case that Peirce's work is narrowed unduly when he is viewed simply as one of the first American pragmatists.He was in fact a philosopher in the large manner concerned about science, about logic and categories in an expansive sense of these terms, and about God. He was an empiricist in the broadest sense that William James developed with his term "radical empiricism".I also see strong parallels in the account of Peirce given in this book to Husserl's phenomenology.

Peirce tought the distinction between knowledge, or the accumulation of facts, and wisdom and meaning which cannot be learned from the books.He developed the philosophy of signs called semiotics and invented a personal and highly idiosyncratic philosophical vocabulary, including terms such as "Cenopythagoreanism" (see page 342) which stretch the casual reader' patience and may stretch the more serious reader's mind.

This book gives an excellent picture of the philosophic mind, in the person of Charles Peirce, and of the serious and consuming nature of philosophic inquiry.It is not a book to read for a full account either of Peirce's life or his thought.It does capture something of the spirit of the man and the thinker.

Readers who want a historically based account of Peirce and his times might enjoy "The Metaphysical Club" by Louis Menand. Ketner's book is cited in the references for Menand and it covers much of the same ground, Peirce's life, his relationship to his father, the mathematician Benjamin Peirce, the metaphysical club which met briefly at Harvard in the 1870s, the effect of the Civil War on American pragmatism, and much else.The distinctive value of Ketner's book, I think, is that for all its problems it will allow the reader to see Peirce from the inside out.

"Glassy Essence" is a valuable resource
For me the book, "His Glassy Essence," has been invaluable. Ketner has pulled together information about Peirce's early life that I could not possibly have gotten to on my own. Since I am not attached to anyinstitution, I do not have access to any unpublished documents. I am notsure I would have been able to find the information Ketner has laid out inthis book even if I had such access. He has pulled together a great deal ofinformation from diverse sources and put these scattered pieces together inchronological and contextual order.

This book has been immensely helpfulto me for coming to understand the provenance of Peirce's pragmatism. Now,it is obvious to me that there was no abrupt beginning to the developmentof Peirce's pragmatic theory. Now that I know of his early exposure toqualitative discernment and aesthetics, I can identify these as central tothe evolution of his theory of abduction-something I have suspected allalong, but had been unable to nail down because of the lack of achronological and contextual framework for Peirce's early life.

Theauthor did a fine job of referencing information, providing page by pagenotes at the end of the book. These references were noted in such a waythat they do not interfere with the reading of the text--which unfolds in astory-like way, enabling me to see how Peirce fit within his context. Thebiographical and temperamental information concerning Peirce's father, forexample, fleshed out the cultural and familial milieu in which he wasraised-seemingly as a crown prince of the intellectual world for which hisfather was a sort of king.

Although there are minor discrepancies (suchas a brother who seems to have been left out)and occasional confusions whenfollowing the story line, I think that this book is going to be very usefulfor anyone wanting to know about the early Peirce. I am finding "HisGlassy Essence" especially useful as a reference tool. I suspect thatother independent researchers, like myself, who are working with Peirce'sideas, but do not have access to unpublished materials by or about him willfind this book useful as well.

Experience the Transforming Power of this book for yourself
As a Peircean supporter of personal inquiry I can't in good conscience write a traditional "review" like the Kirkus one which dominates this page.I write to encourage everybody to disregard the Kirkus commentsand explore His Glassy Essence (and their own, in turn) for themselves.

Having read the correspondence between Ketner and Percy in Thief ofPeirce, I know that Percy commissioned Ketner to write this volume.Thatsaid, I believe that Charles S Peirce, Walker Percy, and Kenneth L. Ketnerare all speaking to any person whose interests run toward open-minded,evaluative, and exploratory inquiry into Life.What better way to discoveryour own Way than to see it in the life of another, namelyPeirce.

Personally, I have no doubt in my heart that Percy would bepleased with Ketner's first installment of the life of CS Peirce.But, byall means, don't take anyone's word for it --- be Percy's sovereignwayfarer, pick up a copy of HGE, and discover Peirce's transformative powerfor you own self! ... Read more

Book Description

Volumes I-VI of the Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Peirce are being reissued in response to a growing interest in Peirce's thought--a development that was prophesied by John Dewey when he reviewed the first volume of these papers on their appearance in 1931. Writing in The New Republic, Mr. Dewey said, "Nothing much will happen in philosophy as long as a main object among philosophers is defense of some formulated historical position. I do not know of any other thinker more calculated than Peirce to give emancipation from the intellectual fortifications of the past and to arouse a fresh imagination."

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Customer Reviews (2)

Terrific insight into the man behind the philosophy
This book contains a great deal of information on the life of a sadly-neglected philosopher; one of the most brilliant Americans of the 19th century.Dr. Brent has a wonderful, at times even poetic, writingstyle, and he has "lived" with Peirce so long that he hasexcellent insight into the man behind the philosophy. Struggling throughPeirce in a class?This book may not make his philosophy"easy"--but it will make him more human.

Excellent
This is a very good biography of an overlooked great American thinker.Mr. Brent does a good job of recounting the life of Peirce without getting bogged down in the details of Peirce's philosophy which is well documentedin several other books. The book also attempts to analyze Peirce'sbehavoir and why he failed as an academic, something that desperatelyneeded to be done.As Peirce's reputation inevitatably increases, thisbiography will become a classic reference to this very interestingAmerican. ... Read more

Book Description

Volumes 1-VI of the Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Peirce are being reissued in response to a growing interest in Peirce's thought - a development that was prophesied by John Dewey when he reviewed the first volume of these papers on their appearance in 1931. Writing in The New Republic, Mr. Dewey said, "Nothing much will happen in philosophy as long as a main object among philosophers is defense of some formulated historical position. I do not know of any other thinker more calculated than Peirce to give emancipation from the intellectual fortifications of the past and to arouse a fresh imagination."

Originally published as six separate volumes, the Peirce papers appear in the new Belknap Press edition in three handsome books of two volumes each. The content is identical with that of the original edition: Volume I, Principles of Philosophy; Volume II, Elements of Logic; Volume III, Exact Logic; Volume IV, The Simplest Mathematics; Volume V, Pragmatism and Pragmaticism; Volume VI, Scientific Metaphysics.

This republication presents the seminal concepts of a writer described in John Dewey's article as "the most original philosophical mind this country has produced."

Book Description
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914) is regarded by many as the greatest American philosopher there has been. Best known as the founder of pragmatism - the philosophy that assesses the meaning of what we say by its practical consequences - his writings cover an enormous range of subjects. A highly original thinker, Peirce's influence can be found in ethics, aesthetics, symbolic logic, religion, epistemology and metaphysics, as well as scientific topics.

The greater part of Peirce's papers were unpublished during his lifetime and upon his death several hundred manuscripts were left to Harvard University. The editors succeeded in creating an order out of what had seemed to all, including Peirce himself, to be a disarray of papers and fragments. When the Collected Papers were published, the philosophical world recognized for the first time the depth, variety and power of Peirce's philosophy. The 8-volume collection includes Peirce's writings on general philosophy, logic, pragmatism, metaphysics, experimental science, scientific method and philosophy of mind, as well as reviews and correspondence. Out of print for many years, this major work is once again available to libraries and scholars. ... Read more

Book Description

Volumes I-VIII of the Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Peirce are being reissued in response to a growing interest in Peirce's thought--a development that was prophesied by John Dewey when he reviewed the first volume of these papers on their appearance in 1931. Writing in The New Republic, Mr. Dewey said , "Nothing much will happen in philosophy as long as a main object among philosophers is defense of some formulated historical position. I do not know of any other thinker more calculated than Peirce to give emanipation from the intellectual fortifications of the past and to arouse a fresh imagination."

Originally published as eight separate volumes, the Peirce papers appear in the new Belknap Press edition in four handsome books of two volumes each. The content is identical with that of the original edition: Volume I, Principals of Philosophy; Volume II, Elements of Logic; Volumes III, Exact Logic; Volumes IV, The Simplest Mathematics; Volumes V, Pragmatism and Pragmaticism; Volume VI, Scientific Metaphysics; Volume VII, Science and Philosophy; Volume VIII, Reviews, Correspondence, and Bibliography.

... Read more

Book Description

The first six volumes of the Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Peirce included Peirce's main writings in general philosophy, logic (deductive, inductive, and symbolic), pragmatism, and metaphysics. Volumes VII and VIII are a continuation of this series. Originally published as two separate volumes, they now appear in one book as part of the Belknap Press edition. Volume VII contains papers on experimental science, scientific method, and philosophy of mind. Volume VIII contains selections from Peirce's reviews and correspondence and a bibliography of his published works, speeches and correspondence, and works by other authors which quote or describe manuscripts by Peirce which are not included in Volumes I-VIII of Collected Papers.

As is true of the series as a whole, the material in these volumes is not readily accessible elsewhere. Many of the manuscripts have never been published before, and the previously published material which is included is widely scattered in a number of journals.

Peirce's work in experimental science played an important role in his life and in the formation of his philosophy, and Volume VII is designed to show how the principal focus of his attention shifted from this sphere to the methods of science and finally to speculative metaphysics. Thus it includes his only published article in experimental psychology and two short pieces on gravity as well as the most important part of "The Logic of 1873" (in which pragmatism was first formulated in writing); "The Logic of Drawing History from Ancient Documents", discussion of the historical method; "Economy of Research" (1879), containing many pertinent reflections on scientific methodology of interest to research directors today; and much more.

America's first original philosopher and logician, and the founder of the philosophy of pragmatism, Peirce was also influential in shaping the thinking of such figures as William James and John Dewey. The reviews and correspondence contained in Volume VIII show his attitude toward these philosophies and illustrate the nature of his relationships with the great thinkers of his day.

The bibliography in Volume VIII lists chronologically all of Peirce's known published works, giving a clear picture of the development of his thought from 1860 through 1911. It is more complete than any published so far in that many new items are included and items previously listed in different sources are here brought together.

These volumes will be of great value to all persons interested in philosophy, scientific method, psychology, the methodology of history, and American studies in general.

Book Description
This digital document, covering the life and work of Charles Sanders Peirce, is an entry from Contemporary Authors, a reference volume published by Thompson Gale. The length of the entry is 1287 words. The page length listed above is based on a typical 300-word page. Although the exact content of each entry from this volume can vary, typical entries include the following information:

• Place and date of birth and death (if deceased)
• Family members
• Education
• Professional associations and honors
• Employment
• Writings, including books and periodicals
• A description of the author's work
• References to further readings about the author

Book Description

Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914) was an American philosopher, physicist, mathematician, and the founder of pragmatism. Despire his importance in the history of philosophy, a unified statment of his thought has been unavailable. With this publication, readers at long last are offered the philosopher's only known, complete, and coherent account of his own work. Originally delivered as the Cambridge Conferences Lectures of 1898, Reasoning and the Logic of Things is the most accessible and thorough introduction to Peirce's mature thought to be found within the compass of a single book.

Beginning with an explanation of the nature of philosophy, Peirce proceeds to illustrate his claim that mathematics provides the foundation of our logic and metaphysics. We find here the clearest formulation of an idea present in Peirce's thought since the 1860s, the distinction between three kinds of reasoning: induction, deduction, and retroduction. Then follows an introduction to Peirce's chief logical doctrines, as well as his attempts to provide a classification of the sciences, a theory of categories, and a theory of science. In conclusion, turning from "reasoning" to the "logic of things," Peirce called for an evolutionary cosmology to explain the reality of laws and described the kinds of reasoning he employed in developing this cosmology.

At the urging of his friend William James, Peirce made an uncharacteristic effort in these lectures to present his ideas in terms intelligible to a general audience--those without advanced training in logic and philosophy. The introductory materials by Ketner and Putman add to the volume's lucidity. Consequently, this book will be a valuable source for readers outside of the circle of Peirce specialists.