Peirce, << purs, >> Charles Sanders (1839-1914), was an American philosopher. He helped lead a philosophical movement called pragmatism. Peirce, who was probably the foremost logician of his time, pioneered in the development of mathematical logic. In addition, Peirce helped develop semiotics, the study of how human beings use various signs and symbols, including words.
Peirce discussed the basic ideas of his pragmatism in an essay called “How to Make Our Ideas Clear” (1878). To understand an idea, he declared, we must consider the behavior of objects to which the idea refers. For example, if we say that a diamond is “hard,” we should want to know what this idea means. Therefore, we should find out what a diamond can do–such as scratch a piece of glass without being scratched itself. We understand what we mean by a diamond if we know what it does do, could do, and might do under various circumstances. The meaning of an object, according to Peirce, includes how we are likely to behave in its presence.
Like other pragmatists, Peirce wanted to connect thought and action. He believed that our thoughts should produce beliefs upon which we can act confidently. If we are in doubt, we hesitate to act. Doubt forces us to inquire into things until we have a belief. If we are not able to clear up our doubts with further inquiry, we must act on the belief most likely to be true.
Peirce was born on Sept. 10, 1839, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His father, the famous mathematician Benjamin Peirce, introduced him to the study of science and philosophy. Peirce graduated from Harvard University in 1859 and did scientific work for the United States Coast Survey from 1861 to 1891. These scientific studies stimulated his interest in philosophy. During his career, Charles Peirce also expressed original ideas about evolution, the role of chance in the universe, the human mind, and the reality of God.
Peirce did not present his philosophy in any organized fashion, and so he received little recognition during his lifetime. Years after his death on April 19, 1914, however, several philosophers published Peirce’s works in eight volumes called The Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Peirce.
