Game Theory, Abduction, and the Economy of Research: C. S. Peirce's Conception of Humanity's Most Economic Resource

The writings of C. S. Peirce, the American polymath philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, are explored and investigated from a hypothetical and perhaps novel perspective. The argument pursued here is that Peirce's "economy of research" is not only of central importance to his philosophy, but that it also should be expanded to include games and the process of abduction. An abductive and game-theoretic interpretation of the economy of research creates an economically and philosophically dynamic conception of how humans create new knowledge. This broader conception of an abductive, economically constrained, and strategically embellished process of intellectual innovation may be humanity's most economic resource. Philosophically, the hypotheses provides a more expansive conception of Peirce's pragmatism, an expansion I believe he intended to make. Peirce's writings on the economy of research, abduction, and games could be of great significance for contemporary applications of Peirce's pragmatism to economics, social science, and interdisciplinary fields such as law and economics.