Charles S. Peirce
@charlespeirce.bsky.social
Philosopher (deceased).
That conception of Aristotle which is embodied for us in the cognate origin of the terms actuality and activity is one of the most deeply illuminating products of Greek thinking. Activity implies a generalization of effort; and effort is a two-sided idea, effort and resistance being inseparable,
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November 22, 2025 at 6:17 PM
That conception of Aristotle which is embodied for us in the cognate origin of the terms actuality and activity is one of the most deeply illuminating products of Greek thinking. Activity implies a generalization of effort; and effort is a two-sided idea, effort and resistance being inseparable,
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In the ideas of Firstness, Secondness, and Thirdness, the three elements, or Universal Categories, appear under their forms of Firstness. They appear under their forms of Secondness in the ideas of Facts of Firstness, or Qualia, Facts of Secondness, or Relations, and Facts of Thirdness, or Signs;
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November 22, 2025 at 2:32 PM
In the ideas of Firstness, Secondness, and Thirdness, the three elements, or Universal Categories, appear under their forms of Firstness. They appear under their forms of Secondness in the ideas of Facts of Firstness, or Qualia, Facts of Secondness, or Relations, and Facts of Thirdness, or Signs;
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The waking state is a consciousness of reaction; and as the consciousness itself is two sided, so it has also two varieties; namely, action, where our modification of other things is more prominent than their reaction on us, and perception,
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November 22, 2025 at 5:27 AM
The waking state is a consciousness of reaction; and as the consciousness itself is two sided, so it has also two varieties; namely, action, where our modification of other things is more prominent than their reaction on us, and perception,
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Observe, if you please, the difference of meaning between a consequent the thing led to, and a consequence, the general fact by virtue of which a given antecedent lead to a certain consequent.
November 21, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Observe, if you please, the difference of meaning between a consequent the thing led to, and a consequence, the general fact by virtue of which a given antecedent lead to a certain consequent.
But since this, after all, is only conjectural, I have on reflexion decided to give this kind of reasoning the name of retroduction to imply that it turns back and leads from the consequent of an admitted consequence, to its antecedent.
November 21, 2025 at 6:03 PM
But since this, after all, is only conjectural, I have on reflexion decided to give this kind of reasoning the name of retroduction to imply that it turns back and leads from the consequent of an admitted consequence, to its antecedent.
A is that process in which the mind goes over all the facts the case, absorbs them, digests them, sleeps over them, assimilates them, dreams of them, and finally is prompted to deliver them in a form, which, if it adds something to them,
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November 21, 2025 at 6:01 PM
A is that process in which the mind goes over all the facts the case, absorbs them, digests them, sleeps over them, assimilates them, dreams of them, and finally is prompted to deliver them in a form, which, if it adds something to them,
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The three kinds of reasoning may be designated by the letters A, B, C.
November 21, 2025 at 6:00 PM
The three kinds of reasoning may be designated by the letters A, B, C.
Abduction furnishes all our ideas concerning real things, beyond what are given in perception, but is mere conjecture, without probative force.
November 21, 2025 at 2:27 AM
Abduction furnishes all our ideas concerning real things, beyond what are given in perception, but is mere conjecture, without probative force.
An Abduction is Originary in respect to being the only kind of argument which starts a new idea.
November 20, 2025 at 7:09 PM
An Abduction is Originary in respect to being the only kind of argument which starts a new idea.
Reposted by Charles S. Peirce
Happy World Philosophy Day to all who celebrate!
And to those who celebrate the importance of critical thinking about fundamental concepts, eg, rationality, meaning, inspiration, but shun the label 'philosophy'...
Happy Critical Thinking Day!
www.unesco.org/en/days/phil...
And to those who celebrate the importance of critical thinking about fundamental concepts, eg, rationality, meaning, inspiration, but shun the label 'philosophy'...
Happy Critical Thinking Day!
www.unesco.org/en/days/phil...
November 20, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Happy World Philosophy Day to all who celebrate!
And to those who celebrate the importance of critical thinking about fundamental concepts, eg, rationality, meaning, inspiration, but shun the label 'philosophy'...
Happy Critical Thinking Day!
www.unesco.org/en/days/phil...
And to those who celebrate the importance of critical thinking about fundamental concepts, eg, rationality, meaning, inspiration, but shun the label 'philosophy'...
Happy Critical Thinking Day!
www.unesco.org/en/days/phil...
Argument is of three kinds: Deduction, Induction, and Abduction (usually called adopting a hypothesis).
November 20, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Argument is of three kinds: Deduction, Induction, and Abduction (usually called adopting a hypothesis).
Methodeutic has a special interest in Abduction, or the inference which starts a scientific hypothesis. For it is not sufficient that a hypothesis should be a justifiable one.
November 20, 2025 at 12:55 AM
Methodeutic has a special interest in Abduction, or the inference which starts a scientific hypothesis. For it is not sufficient that a hypothesis should be a justifiable one.
Abduction is reasoning which professes to be such that in case there is any ascertainable truth concerning the matter in hand, the general method of this reasoning, though not necessarily each special application of it, must eventually approximate to the truth.
November 19, 2025 at 10:09 PM
Abduction is reasoning which professes to be such that in case there is any ascertainable truth concerning the matter in hand, the general method of this reasoning, though not necessarily each special application of it, must eventually approximate to the truth.
The second thing to remember is that the man's circle of society (however widely or narrowly this phrase may be understood) is a sort of loosely compacted person, in some respects of higher rank than the person of an individual organism.
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November 19, 2025 at 6:54 PM
The second thing to remember is that the man's circle of society (however widely or narrowly this phrase may be understood) is a sort of loosely compacted person, in some respects of higher rank than the person of an individual organism.
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When one reasons, it is that critical self that one is trying to persuade; and all thought whatsoever is a sign, and is mostly of the nature of language.
November 19, 2025 at 6:54 PM
When one reasons, it is that critical self that one is trying to persuade; and all thought whatsoever is a sign, and is mostly of the nature of language.
Two things here are all-important to assure oneself of and to remember. The first is that a person is not absolutely an individual. His thoughts are what he is "saying to himself," that is, is saying to that other self that is just coming into life in the flow of time.
November 19, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Two things here are all-important to assure oneself of and to remember. The first is that a person is not absolutely an individual. His thoughts are what he is "saying to himself," that is, is saying to that other self that is just coming into life in the flow of time.
However, if there be any attainable truth, as he hopes, it is plain that the only way in which it is to be attained is by trying the hypotheses which seem reasonable and which lead to such consequences as are observed.
November 19, 2025 at 5:06 AM
However, if there be any attainable truth, as he hopes, it is plain that the only way in which it is to be attained is by trying the hypotheses which seem reasonable and which lead to such consequences as are observed.
The answer is that it is a question of economy. If he examines all the foolish theories he might imagine, he never will (short of a miracle) light upon the true one. Indeed, even with the most rational procedure, he never would do so, were there not an affinity between his ideas and nature’s ways.
November 19, 2025 at 5:06 AM
The answer is that it is a question of economy. If he examines all the foolish theories he might imagine, he never will (short of a miracle) light upon the true one. Indeed, even with the most rational procedure, he never would do so, were there not an affinity between his ideas and nature’s ways.
I call all such inference by the peculiar name, abduction, because its legitimacy depends upon altogether different principles from those of other kinds of inference.
November 18, 2025 at 11:41 PM
I call all such inference by the peculiar name, abduction, because its legitimacy depends upon altogether different principles from those of other kinds of inference.
This will include a preference for any one hypothesis over others which would equally explain the facts, so long as this preference is not based upon any previous knowledge bearing upon the truth of the hypotheses, nor on any testing of any of the hypotheses, after having admitted them on probation.
November 18, 2025 at 11:41 PM
This will include a preference for any one hypothesis over others which would equally explain the facts, so long as this preference is not based upon any previous knowledge bearing upon the truth of the hypotheses, nor on any testing of any of the hypotheses, after having admitted them on probation.
The first starting of a hypothesis and the entertaining of it, whether as a simple interrogation or with any degree of confidence, is an inferential step which I propose to call abduction.
November 18, 2025 at 11:41 PM
The first starting of a hypothesis and the entertaining of it, whether as a simple interrogation or with any degree of confidence, is an inferential step which I propose to call abduction.
Now testing by experiment is a very expensive business, involving great outlay of money, time, and energy; so that comparatively few hypotheses can be tested. Thus, even the admission of an abductive conclusion to the rank of an active interrogation is a concession not to be too lightly accorded.
November 18, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Now testing by experiment is a very expensive business, involving great outlay of money, time, and energy; so that comparatively few hypotheses can be tested. Thus, even the admission of an abductive conclusion to the rank of an active interrogation is a concession not to be too lightly accorded.
By its very definition abduction leads to a hypothesis which is entirely foreign to the data. To assert the truth of its conclusion ever so dubiously would be too much.
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November 18, 2025 at 2:04 PM
By its very definition abduction leads to a hypothesis which is entirely foreign to the data. To assert the truth of its conclusion ever so dubiously would be too much.
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A given object presents an extraordinary combination of characters of which we should like to have an explanation. That there is any explanation of them is a pure assumption; and if there be, it is some one hidden fact which explains them;
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November 18, 2025 at 2:04 PM
A given object presents an extraordinary combination of characters of which we should like to have an explanation. That there is any explanation of them is a pure assumption; and if there be, it is some one hidden fact which explains them;
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There is a more familiar name for it than abduction; for it is neither more nor less than guessing.
November 18, 2025 at 2:03 PM
There is a more familiar name for it than abduction; for it is neither more nor less than guessing.