Peirce and Schiller and Their Correspondence

Peirce and Schiller and Their Correspondence FREDERICK J. DOWN SCOTT THE FORTUNATE FINDING of tWO of Peirce's unpublished letters to Ferdinand Canning Scott Schiller and the availability of two of Schiller's unpublished letters to Pekoe have made possible a more detailed, exact and clear understanding of their philosophical relationship and of the development of the pragmatic movement than could have been attempted before. These letters will help better to order, date and interpret the scattered references to Schiller in Peirce's published writings and the few references to Pekoe in those of Schiller. Further, there is now the opportunity to judge the value of the rough drafts of the letters Peirce sent to Schiller and of the letters he did not send which have been preserved among Peiroe's manuscripts. The two "letters" of Peirce to Schiller, which have been published in volume eight of the Collected Papers, actually are only rough, incomplete and unsigned drafts of letters. It is uncertain whether Peirce ever sent corresponding letters, because unfortunately so far such letters have not been found, though from other evidence it seems very likely that he did write and send the actual letters. Peirce initiated the correspondence by sending a copy of his article "What Pragmatism Is" to Schiller. t The question naturally arises why he did so. Part of the answer seems to lie in the reference made to Schiller in the article. How the following citation furnishes a partial answer to our question will be seen shortly: Next, the admirably clear and brilliant thinker, Mr. Ferdinand C. S. Schiller, casting about for a more attractive name for the "anthropomorphism" of his Riddles o[ the Sphinx, lit in that most remarkable paper of his on "Axioms as Postulates," upon the same designation "pragmatism," which in its original sense was in generic agreement with his own doctrine, for which he has since found the more appropriate specification "humanism," while he still retains "pragmatism" in a somewhat wider sense.2 Monist, 15 (April, 1905), 161-181. Also, Collected Papers [CP] 5.411-437. 2 CP 5.414 [363] 364 HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY This very compact sentence calls for a good deal of background information in order to unpack it. First of all, Peirce had read either the first (1891) or the second (1894) edition of the Riddles, for in a draft for the next published article in this Monist series, "Issues of Pragmaticism," Peirce mentioned the "aid" he had received from the book. 3 Though Schiller did write a short section in his book on the anthropomorphism of all thought, it is not clear why the title "'anthropomorphism " was attached to his whole philosophy. The following quote from a later work might indicate that James was the originator of the title: Similary Professor James, in reviewing Personal Idealism, pointed out that "a re-anthropomorphized universe is the general outcome of its philosophy." Only for re-anthropomorphized we should henceforth read re-humanized. 'Anthropomorphism' is a term of disparagement whose dyslogistic usage it may prove difficult to alter. Moreover, it is clumsy and can hardly be extended so as to cover what I mean by Humanism. 4 Peirce's own understanding of "anthropomorphism," both his and Schiller's meaning, will be presented in the context of the letters. The paper "Axioms as Postulates" appeared in the above mentioned volume entitled Personal Idealism. 5 Since, according to Peirce, "pragmatism" was in this paper the "more attractive name" than "anthropomorphism," how did Schiller at this time understand pragmatism? In the paper he wrote: "the whole subsequent argument has already had its main lines mapped out by our introductory discussion of the Weltanschauung which Prof. James has called pragmatism and radical empiricism. For when we apply it to the theory of our cognitive faculties and the first principles whereby in knowledge we elaborate our experience, it leads to a very distinctive treatment of epistemological problems. ''6 In a note about this time Peirce quoted the above passage only to the word "pragmatism" and remarked : "Pragmatism is not a Weltanschauung but a method of reflection having for its purpose to render ideas clear" and "Schiller of Oxford, author of Ridles of the Sphinx...