Charles Peirce: Pioneer in American Thought

CHARLES PEIRCE: PIONEER]N ,AMERICAN THOUGHT T. A. GOUDGE DESPITE the attention .which philosophers ar~ giving to- the work of Charles Peirce, his name remains virtually unknown to the general public. -At best h'e is connected vaguely with the doctrine of pragmatism, or with the more familiar figure of William James. Yet the opinion is growing in many q~arters that P~jrce is one of the most distinguished thinkers America has produced. James may display greater gifts of picturesque and vivid expression; Royce a 'superior capacity for presenting his ideas systemati'cally; and Dewey a keener sense of the relevance of philosophy to society. But in respect of- originality, penetration, comprehensiveness and versatility, Peirce surpasses all three men. These were the qualities that-made him a philosophical adventurer, a pioneer who opened up, ~ new and important realms of theory. Indeed, even the contradictions in his thinking are significant, for they bring into unique focus conflicting tendencies in the culture of his time. Because of such facts, it would seem desirable to recount the main details, of his career, and thereby help to introduce him to a wider audience. , I Charles Peirce was born in-Cambridge, Massachusetts, in Sep- ' tember, 1839. The family were middle-class intellectuals with a rather impressive record in academic life. One of his gra~dparents was librarian at Harvard, and author of a useful history of the college. H~s father wa's the eminent mathematician Benjamin Peirce who taught at Harvard for almost half a century. A strongtalent for exact reasoning manifested itself in various members of the family. Charles -possessed it in the fullest measure. But an older brother James, and a third cousin Benjamin Osgood Peirce, had the same' aptitude. Both the latter were professors of mathe- mitics on the Harvard Faculty for a number of years. Altogether, three of the family, including Charles, were honoured' by election - to the National Academy of Sciences. Hence, as one commentatorhas said, "in the annals of intellectual achievement in America, there is no greater name than Peirce."l IE. H. Hall in the Biographical Memoir.! oj the National Academy oj Sciences, VIII, 1919,437. 403 404 . THE, UNIVERSITY OF TORO~TO QUARTERLY - , , Charles receive~ his -initial education from his father, so that his ' -childhood be'ars 'a ce'rtain: resemblance to that of Joh~ Stuart Mill. Like -\Y1ill he was a precocious youngster, arid learned to read and write at a tender age. He was fond of consulting encyclopedias and other-reference books in search of knowredge on all sorts of questions which he would then discuss'with"his father. The latter, desiring to train his son in the art of concentration, would from,' time to time play rapid games ,of double-du'mmy with him-begin- ~ing at 10 P.M. and lasting until sunrise! This spartan exercise ,enabled Charles to develop remarkable powers of endurance which , he retained throughout life. The Peirce houshold, being a cultured one, was visited by many outstanding-figures of the day.- Litera·ry men like Emerson, Longfellow, Lowell and O. W. Holmes; as well' as scientists like Agassiz, Gibbs and Sylv~ster, were frequent guests of the family. They formed an important part of the environment in which the boy was reared. By the time he was thirteen, Charles had an unusual grasp of the fields' of math~matics and che'mistry. On his own initiative he had set up a chemical laboratory in which he undertook fairly complex experiments in quantitative analysis. The reading of Whateley)s Logic in 1852 proved an exciting and decisive experience which con.. verted him into a peqnanent lover of the subject. During the whole of this period the .rich and fascinating personality of his, father influenced ,him deeply. Yet. the instruction he received was exclusively intellectual. As Charles himself once confessed, he was never taught the meanihg of Hmoral self-control;' with the result that in later life he "suffered unspeakably." After several years at school in Cambridge, he entered Harvard and gradu'ated in 1859, the youngest member of his class. For various reasons his academic record was poor (he stood 71st in a group of 91). His strongly...